Watchlist is Unconstitutional
September 4, 2019
A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that the government's terrorism screening database (TSDB) is unconstitutional because:
-
People on the list are not given an adequate opportunity to contest their inclusion and
-
There is no independent review of a person's placement on the TSDB by a neutral decisionmaker and
-
Individuals are not told whether or not they were or remain on the TSDB watchlist and
-
Individuals are also not told the factual basis or criteria for their inclusion. If he is on the list, he doesn't have any way to find out why he is on the list or to provide the government with information to clear his name and
-
Violates the Adminstrative Procedures Act.
The Constitution guarantees due process before someone can be deprived of his rights—including the right to travel.
The current system "does not provide to a United States citizen a constitutionally adequate remedy under the Due Process Clause."
But the details still need to be worked out. Judge Trenga ordered both sides in the lawsuit to propose changes that could address the system's constitutional defects. Based on those proposals, he'll issue a more detailed ruling in the future. We can also expect the federal government to appeal Trenga's ruling, so this legal fight is far from over.
The Watchlist
If the Watchlists are unconstitutional, then all other activities based on the Watchlist are unconstitutional.
Taking away civil liberties was predicated on 9-11 fake terrorism. This was NWO terrorism planned to launch the WAR ON TERROR which has taken away all civil liberties in order to control people.
Jumper's Blood on NY Sidewalk
9-11 Watchlist Sacrifices are the people who died unwillingly so the "war on terror" or rather "reign of terror" could officially begin.
About the Terrorist Screening Center
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the President and Congress mandated that federal executive departments and agencies share terrorism information with those in the counterterrorism community responsible for protecting the homeland. In 2003, the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) was created to fulfill that mandate.
​
The Terrorist Screening Center, a multi-agency center administered by the FBI, is the U.S. Government’s consolidated counterterrorism watchlisting component and is responsible for the management and operation of the Terrorist Screening Database, commonly known as “the watchlist.”
The watchlist is a single database that contains sensitive national security and law enforcement information concerning the identities of those who are known or reasonably suspected of being involved in terrorist activities. The TSC uses the watchlist to support front-line screening agencies in positively identifying known or suspected terrorists who are attempting to obtain visas, enter the country, board an aircraft, or engage in other activities.
The TSC is a vital part of the U.S. Government’s counterterrorism early warning and interdiction network.
You can learn more about the Terrorist Screening Center by reviewing answers to our frequently asked questions.
​
Protecting Privacy and
Safeguarding Civil Liberties
The TSC is dedicated to ensuring watchlisting and screening activities are conducted in a manner consistent with protecting privacy and civil liberties. Individuals are included in the watchlist when there is reasonable suspicion to believe that a person is a known or suspected terrorist. Individuals are not watchlisted based solely on race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, or any First Amendment-protected activities such as free speech, the exercise of religion, freedom of press, freedom of peaceful assembly, and petitioning the government for redress of grievances.
And the TSC regularly conducts comprehensive and case-specific quality assurance reviews of data in the Terrorist Screening Database to ensure the U.S. Government’s substantive criteria for watchlisting is met and to ensure the records maintained in the watchlist are current, accurate, and thorough.
Since the Terrorist Screening Database is derived from classified intelligence and/or sensitive law enforcement information, the Terrorist Screening Center cannot confirm or deny whether any individual may be included in the watchlist. Disclosure of such information would significantly impair the government's ability to investigate and mitigate terrorism, and expose sensitive national security information.
Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB)
​
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Terrorist Screening Database or TSDB is the central terrorist watchlist consolidated by the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center and used by multiple agencies to compile their specific watchlists and for screening. As of June 2016 the list is estimated to contain over 2,484,442 records, consisting of 1,877,133 individual identities.[1][2] Approximately 1,600 nominations are suggested daily, 600 names are removed and 4,800 records are modified by the U.S. intelligence community. Approximately one out of twenty of the people on the list are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.[3]
​
The TSDB is fed from two primary sources: international terrorist (IT) information from the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, a central database on known or suspected international terrorists maintained by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) and domestic terrorist (DT) information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The TSDB in turn is used to compile various watchlists and screening systems:
​
-
Interagency Border Inspection System (IBIS) – Department of Homeland Security
-
National Automated Immigration Lookout System (NAILS) – Department of Homeland Security migrated to Treasury Enforcement Communications System (TECS)
-
Consular Lookout and Support System (CLASS) – Department of State
-
Criminal Justice Information Services Division Warrant Information – Department of Justice
-
Violent Gang and Terrorist Organization File (VGTOF) – Department of Justice
-
Air Force Office of Special Investigations Top Ten Fugitive List – Department of Defense
-
Automated Biometric Identification System – Department of Defense
-
Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System – Department of Justice
The Justice Department's Office of Inspector General has criticized the list for frequent errors and slow response to complaints. An audit by the Office of Inspector General found that 38% of a 105 record sample contained inaccuracies.[4] The Federal Bureau of Investigation has said it is redressing errors, and a 2006 review of the No Fly List reduced its size by half, from 71,872 records to 34,230 records.[4][5]
A ruling on September 4, 2019 found the program to be unconstitutional.[6]
The Watchlist was expensive.
Terrorism Watch List Is Faulted For Errors
By Ellen Nakashima, Friday, September 7, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/06/AR2007090601386.html
Q&A on Court Decision Invalidating Admin’s Terrorism Watchlist
By Shirin Sinnar, September 5, 2019
Q&A on Court Decision Invalidating Admin’s Terrorism Watchlist
By Shirin Sinnar, September 5, 2019
The Watchlist: Improving the Transparency, Accuracy and Efficiency and Accountability of the TSDB
By David Park, Dissertation 2018
Q&A on Court Decision Invalidating Admin’s Terrorism Watchlist
By Shirin Sinnar, September 5, 2019
WATCHLIST DATABASE IS SHARED WITH POLICE, INFRAGARD, CORPORATIONS
"The Terrorist Screening Database is one of the largest terrorist watchlists is compiled by the federal government. In 2017, a reported 1.2 million individuals were on the list, including 4,600 U.S. citizens. Federal agencies use it to interrogate and search people at airports and land borders and screen people who apply for visas or citizenship. They also share the list with foreign governments, 18,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies, and over 500 private companies, so a person applying for a job with a government contractor or stopped for a routine traffic violation might also be flagged as being on the watchlist."
by Shirin Sinnar
September 5, 2019
If you find yourself on a Terrorist Watch list, go to CUNY CLEAR or contact them at 718-340-4558.
"CLEAR provides free legal representation and a broad range of other services in support of partner communities and movements.
​
Specifically, we represent and advise community and movement members on a vast set of issues that arise in connection to government policies and practices deployed under the guise of “national security” and “counterterrorism.”
If we cannot support you, we will try to refer you to others."
The Watchlist
Eclipse of the Constitution
"The hub-and-spoke system of watchlists means that revelations about a person’s inclusion on the central list can compromise other lists further down. Post-deprivation review of one listing might simultaneously amount to pre-deprivation review of another listing that has not yet been activated by a person’s attempt to exercise the liberty secretly being reserved for those who pass the reasonable suspicion test (or whatever secret exceptions might be added by the anonymous officials applying them).
While we look to these future dates on these dockets, therefore, the question remains just the same as it ever was: who watches the watchlisters?"
Why a Judge's Watchlist Ruling is a Gamechanger, by Jeffrey Kahn, Sept 9, 2019
