Respected law professor Walter F. Murphy got flagged when flying and was told by an airport counter official that he was likely put on the watchlist because he was critical of the Administration's Iraq war. His suspicions were furthered heightened on his return flight, where he wasn't flagged for extra screening but his luggage was lost. His story is up on Balkin and reblogged by BoingBoing.
Threat Level is here to tell you that's it's 99.9 percent sure the good professor isn't on any government watchlist for giving a speech. I have no idea why the counterperson would say that individuals are put on the list for joining anti-war protests, but that's just not true.
The key question to ask about cases where children or nuns or Senators or peace activists get selected for extra screening is: Evil or Incompetent?
Woe be it for this blog to defend the country's foolish watchlist system, but after having spent more than four years reporting on watchlists, filing Freedom of Information Act requests, and talking with persons flagged by the lists, I have never seen a single case of a person being put on the list for activities protected by the First Amendment. Feel free to drop any proof you might have via email or in the comments.
I'm not even certain that in this case Murphy's name matched or was similar to a name on the list - which is what has snagged nearly every David Nelson in the country and what got Senator Ted Kennedy a dose of handheld wanding.
In this case, I would guess that Murphy was singled out randomly. He himself says he wasn't flagged on the way back, which he almost certainly would have been if he were on the 'selectee' list. (The 'selectee' list directs airlines to single out that person for extra screening, while a related list, the 'no-fly' list directs airlines to keep a person off a plane.)
I'm open to any evidence that the government has watchlisted American citizens for exercising their Constitutional rights, but I've never seen it.
The left wants to believe it is living in some version of Orwell's 1984. Threat Level believes that's a fool's prism. Around these parts, we prefer to see the world through a Kafka and Gilliam kaleidescope.
Update: American Airlines and TSA respond here.
