Wednesday, June 24, 2009

TSA Reforms

Some very good suggestions from Schneier on the TSA airport jungle.

Obama has repeatedly talked about increasing openness and transparency in government, and it's time to bring transparency to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Let's start with the no-fly and watch lists. Right now, everything about them is secret: You can't find out if you're on one, or who put you there and why, and you can't clear your name if you're innocent. This Kafkaesque scenario is so un-American it's embarrassing. Obama should make the no-fly list subject to judicial review.

...Obama should mandate that airport security be solely about terrorism, and not a general-purpose security checkpoint to catch everyone from pot smokers to deadbeat dads...The TSA should limit its searches to bombs and weapons and leave general policing to the police - where we know courts and the Constitution still apply

The fact that these are common-sense suggestions militates against acceptance by Gummint.

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