Federal judge says terrorist watchlist is unconstitutional

Enlarge / NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 22: A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) worker screens passengers at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) on the day before Thanksgiving, the nation's busiest travel day on November 22, 2017 in New York City. (credit: Spencer Platt | Getty Images)

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. The ruling is a victory for a group of almost 20 Muslim Americans who sued the government over the list in 2016.

"There is no independent review of a person's placement on the TSDB by a neutral decisionmaker," Judge Anthony Trenga wrote on Wednesday. "Individuals are not told whether or not they were or remain on the TSDB watchlist and are also not told the factual basis for their inclusion."

As a result, the judge concluded, the watchlist system is unconstitutional.

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