The Center for Constitutional Rights has charged the federal government with unconstitutionally targeting liberal and left-leaning political activists in the wake of a story in the on-line publication, Salon.com revealing that the U.S. Transportation and Security Administration keeps a list of about 1,000 people who have been deemed a “threat to aviation.” The Center is looking to hear from other travelers who feel they have been targeted at airports. The Center can be reached at (212) 614-6464.

The Salon.com article, “Grounded” begins:

“Barbara Olshansky was at a Newark International Airport departure gate last May when an airline agent at the counter checking her boarding pass called airport security. Olshansky was subjected to a close search and then, though she was in view of other travelers, was ordered to pull her pants down. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks may have created a new era in airport security, but even so, she was embarrassed and annoyed.

“Perhaps one such incident might’ve been forgotten, but Olshansky, the assistant legal director for the left-leaning Center for Constitutional Rights, was pulled out of line for special attention the next time she flew. And the next time. And the next time. On one flight this past September from Newark to Washington, six members of the center’s staff, including Olshansky, were stopped and subjected to intense scrutiny, even though they had purchased their tickets independently and had not checked in as a group. On that occasion, Olshansky got angry and demanded to know why she had been singled out.”

Today on Democracy Now! we talk to Barbara Olshansky.

Guest:

• Barbara Olshansky, assistant legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights; author of ??Secret Trials and Executions: Military Tribunals and the Threat to Democracy (Seven Stories).

Related link:

• Center for Constitutional Rights

??
??
??
????
??