Security

Pilot Sues To Get Off Terrorist List, Says Career Is At Stake

A Pennsylvania Gulf War veteran says he has just 11 days to get off a terrorism watch list in order to keep his job as a commercial pilot and filed suit in federal court Tuesday hoping to have a judge immediately order Homeland Security to clear his name. Erich Scherfen, a former military pilot and […]

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A Pennsylvania Gulf War veteran says he has just 11 days to get off a terrorism watch list in order to keep his job as a commercial pilot and filed suit in federal court Tuesday hoping to have a judge immediately order Homeland Security to clear his name.

Erich Scherfen, a former military pilot and a convert to Islam, charges that the government placed him and his wife Rubeena Tareen, a Pakistani-born U.S. citizen, on a terrorist watch list because of their religion.

Scherfen may be in luck since he filed his suit the same day that a federal appeals court ruled that individuals on the list could sue to get out of the database in a normal court -- despite the fact that Congress largely exempts the Transportation Security Administration's actions from lawsuits in federal court.

On April 29, 2008, Scherfen's employer Colgan Airlines suspended him from flying after a positive match on a Transportation Security Administration list, according to the suit filed in Pennsylvania Middle U.S. District Court.

While Scherfen was on paid leave, the couple applied for help through the Homeland Security's Traveler Redress Inquiry Progam but could not even get a tracking number to follow the case, the complaint alleges. Joe Williams, a spokesman for Pinnacle Airlines, which owns Colgan, said only "We can not comment on his status."

Scherfen has until the end of the month to get back into good graces of the database or else he will continue to be a"pilot who is not allowed to fly," according to the suit (.pdf).

Although their experiences indicate they are on a federal government "watch list," the government now will not acknowledge their listing. The electronic system that was purportedly set up to address errors on teh watch list does not work--- in fact, it appears to be a black hole, with citizen complaints going in but without any resolution coming back out. For Plaintiffs, the entire experience has been surreal. What is very real, however, is the harm that they have suffered and will continue to suffer, including the imminent loss of Mr. Scherfern's ability to continue in his profession as commercial pilot.

Scherfen and his wife say thay have been questioned and detained at airports repeatedly and that the government's failure to provide a "name-clearing hearing" violates their due process rights. They also say that putting them on a watch list because of their religious beliefs violates the First Amendment.

A TSA spokeswoman declined to comment on pending litigation, referring Threat Level to the Justice Department. DOJ spokesman Charles Miller said the government had not yet been served with the suit, but once they are, the government will make a determination on how to respond in court.

As for a response out of court -- perhaps by expediting a review of the couple's case? Miller says he can't speak on behalf of Homeland Security.

UPDATE: The Terrorist Screening Center says its database includes some 400,000 distinct individuals, but more records than that due to alias. 95 percent are foreigners, leaving approximately 20,000 Americans in the terrorist watch list.

The TSA says uses only 50,000 of those people are on its two lists: the No-Fly and Selectee list. The former means no boarding pass, the latter extra screening and no home check-in ever.

The government also says the watch lists are useful.

Image: TSA explanatory graph of the watch lists it uses.

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