American Civil Liberties Union

Here’s a quick rundown of what we’re working on this week. Note that the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security is holding back to back hearings on TSA Tuesday and Wednesday. You can learn more about our efforts on TSA and privacy here.

Tuesday, July 10

TSA: The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security will hold a hearing titled, “Challenging the Status Quo at TSA: Perspectives on the Future of Transportation Security.” 

Last week, during its markup of the National Defense Authorization (NDAA) bill, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to include a much-needed and overdue amendment to help servicewomen when they need it most. The amendment, offered by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), would reverse the current ban on abortion coverage for servicewomen who are the victims of rape or incest.

When the news broke a group of senior military officers, retired medical personnel and veterans called Stand With Servicewomen, immediately registered their support releasing video featuring several retired military leaders.

The New York Times had a great editorial in its Sunday paper that outlined the continuing issues with terror watch lists.

As if traveling weren't a hassle already (now even more so with invasive body scanners), imagine if your name were placed on a terrorist watch list. The lists are secret so the only way of knowing would be to find out when, perhaps, you're already late to your flight and suddenly pulled out of line for extra screening — or even denied boarding altogether. And there are no solid and trustworthy mechanisms to remedy mistaken identification and absolutely no way to remove your name from the list; the so-called "redress" process involved complaining to a government entity without authority to fix the problem and hoping that a faceless bureaucrat will correct a mistake or change his mind.