A no-brainer for the Court
At least that’s how I saw it when the Supreme Court sided with security in airports.
The Supreme Court on Monday rebuffed a challenge to the federal government’s policy of requiring airline passengers to show identification before they board flights, spurning arguments that the well-known but unpublished policy would lead to more secret laws.
John Gilmore, a founder of Sun Microsystems and an advocate of libertarian causes, sued the government because it has long refused to disclose the text of the regulation that forces air travelers to present an ID.
What doesn’t he understand about ‘be ready to show a photo ID’?
The question before the justices was whether travelers have sufficient notice of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) ID policy to satisfy constitutional due process of law, which typically requires a law to be published so people know how to comply with it.
This is a true story. No kidding.
On July 4, 2002, Gilmore tried to board two flights from California to the Washington, D.C., area without showing identification. Airline workers told him that if he would not show an ID, he would have to undergo more extensive screening. He refused.
“I believe I have a right to travel in my own country without presenting what amounts to an internal passport,” Gilmore told USA TODAY in 2004. “I have a right to be anonymous.”
No, you don’t. At least, not when you’re boarding a commercial aircraft in post-9/11 America. But the rest of us do have the right to be protected from would-be hijackers and troublemakers.
So Mr. Gilmore can slip into his seat and have all the anonymity he wants, once he produces a photo ID. His response is so far greater than the ID requirement that precipitated it, I’m wondering what’s really behind this lawsuit.
The news report I heard on this said that the justices ruled quickly and with no comment. What’s to say, other than….how did this ever make it all the way to the Supreme Court?!
