CDT joined a friend-of-the court brief filed yesterday asking the Supreme Court to prohibit federal agencies from applying rules that are kept secret from the public. CDT and other civil liberties organizations joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in encouraging the High Court to review the case of Gilmore v. Gonzales. Brought by activist and Internet pioneer John Gilmore, the case challenges the refusal of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to make public the text of a rule that purportedly requires airline passengers to present identification or, alternatively, submit to a more extensive physical search.

Secret law is squarely contrary to the principles of open government that CDT has long advocated. Airline safety is an important national security issue, and CDT has not taken a position on the air-travel ID requirement that originally prompted Gilmore’s suit. We strongly believe, however, that people have a right to know exactly what the law requires of them, even where national security is concerned. Open and accessible rules are necessary in a democratic society so individuals can tailor their behavior to comply with the law — and also keep the government accountable for its actions. The Supreme Court should reject TSA’s assertion that it can keep secret a rule that applies to every single person who travels by commercial aircraft. The case has broad implications. CDT hopes that the Supreme Court, as it has in other areas, will make it clear that the war on terrorism does not trump fundamental values. If allowed to stand, TSA’s conduct could encourage other federal agencies — in the national security context or elsewhere — to secretly make and maintain rules affecting individuals in their daily lives.

Gilmore provides links to all the relevant court documents here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 14th, 2006 at 5:11 pm and is filed under Open Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.