We’re going to try to get more deeply into this. But I at least wanted to touch on the story so word of this shocking incident gets wider attention. Walter F. Murphy is a legendary expert on constitutional theory and the Court. I actually took his class in college almost twenty years ago. Yesterday at the Balkanization blog, Mark Graber published a letter from Murphy in which he explains his experience finding himself on the Terrorist Watch List.
Now, we’ve all heard stories at this point about all sorts of different people ending up on this list who obviously have no credible connection to any terrorist organization. Often it’s a matter of a mispelled name or someone having the same name as someone else. And often the stories are treated as oddities or examples of how randomly names get added, as though the issue is the poor management of the list and disorganization of the process of compiling it. But that doesn’t appear to have been the case here.
Let’s pick up Murphy’s description of what happened …
“When I tried to use the curb-side check in at the Sunport, I was denied a boarding pass because I was on the Terrorist Watch list. I was instructed to go inside and talk to a clerk. At this point, I should note that I am not only the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence (emeritus) but also a retired Marine colonel. I fought in the Korean War as a young lieutenant, was wounded, and decorated for heroism. I remained a professional soldier for more than five years and then accepted a commission as a reserve office, serving for an additional 19 years.”
“I presented my credentials from the Marine Corps to a very polite clerk for American Airlines. One of the two people to whom I talked asked a question and offered a frightening comment: “Have you been in any peace marches? We ban a lot of people from flying because of that.” I explained that I had not so marched but had, in September, 2006, given a lecture at Princeton, televised and put on the Web, highly critical of George Bush for his many violations of the Constitution. “That’ll do it,” the man said. ”
“After carefully examining my credentials, the clerk asked if he could take them to TSA officials. I agreed. He returned about ten minutes later and said I could have a boarding pass, but added: “I must warn you, they’re going to ransack your luggage.” On my return flight, I had no problem with obtaining a boarding pass, but my luggage was “lost.” Airlines do lose a lot of luggage and this “loss” could have been a mere coincidence. In light of previous events, however, I’m a tad skeptical.”
Given who Professor Murphy is, I have no doubt this is an accurate account of his particular experience. And it would seem that the people who actually work with the list on a daily basis treat it as a given that the most innocuous and obviously protected forms of criticism of the Bush administration routinely get you on the watch list. That pretty much confirms the truth of what most of us would probably have thought was a harebrained conspiracy theory. Doesn’t this deserve more scrutiny?
Late Update: This is apparently the lecture that may have landed Murphy on the list.
Even Later Update: At Wired’s Threat Level blog, Ryan Singel says he’s sure Murphy didn’t get put on any list because of any 1st Amendment protected speech.
