The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has always been able to put just about whoever they liked on the US government’s terrorist watch list. Now, in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), it turns out that even those who have been acquitted of terrorism or against whom charges have been dropped, can remain on the list.
“If an individual is acquitted or charges are dismissed for a crime related to terrorism, the individual must still meet the reasonable suspicion standard in order to remain on, or be subsequently nominated to, the terrorist watch list,” reads a December 2010 guidance memorandum included in the released documents. In other words, once your on the US government’s terrorism watch list, you’re presumed guilty, even if you’ve been acquitted.
According to Charlie Savage, writing for the New York Times, the 91 pages of documents “lay out, for the first time in public view, the legal standard that national security officials must meet in order to add a name to the list. And they shed new light on how names are vetted for possible removal from the list.”
Savage reports that the FBI shares the terrorist watch list with other federal agencies, for screening aircraft passengers, for screening border crossings, for screening visa applications, and with local police for traffic stop screening. He cites American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawyer Chris Calabrese who calls the terrorist watch list a “‘Star Chamber’—a secret determination, that you have no input into, that you are a terrorist. Once that determination is made, it can ripple through your entire life and you have no way to challenge it.”
Savage reports the US government’s terrorist watch list currently contains “about 420,000 names, including about 8,000 Americans.”
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