US judge rules terror watch list is unconstitutional

ANKARA

A federal judge in the U.S. declared a terrorism watch list created after 9/11 terror attacks in 2001 as unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga ruled Wednesday that the Terrorist Screening Database does not give Americans on the list "an adequate opportunity to challenge their status as potential terrorism suspects," The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

A lawsuit was filed in Virginia federal court in 2016 by the nonprofit Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) on behalf of nearly two dozen Americans who believe they are included in the database.

"There is no evidence, or contention, that any of these plaintiffs satisfy the definition of a 'known terrorist,'" Trenga said.

The decision could be appealed to a higher court.

"The watch list’s arbitrary criteria has long enabled the government to target Muslims based on their faith and then build a secretive network map of their associations," said Carolyn Homer, one of the CAIR trial attorneys.

"Today, the government’s unlawful surveillance of the Muslim community has begun to be curtailed," Homer added.

However, according to the attorneys representing government, the watch list "allows U.S. authorities to identify known and suspected terrorists seeking to board aircraft, enter the country, or engage in other potentially threatening activity", while terrorism "remains as a persistent threat" for country's security.

Created in 2003, the Terrorist Screening Database contains info of 1.2 million individuals --including 4,600 American citizens -- as of 2017. The "no-fly" list is a smaller subset of the overall Terrorist Screening Database, prohibiting anyone listed from boarding a civilian aircraft.

In 2015, the Department of Homeland Security gave American citizens and permanent residents, who were barred from flights over security concerns, a chance to contest the designation.

The move came in response to a series of lawsuits filed on behalf of Americans who were denied the ability to board planes because they ended up on the list, according to WSJ.

Nearly 18,000 federal, state, and local law-enforcement agencies, more than 500 private organizations and over 60 foreign governments have access to the database.