NPR Covers ACLU FOIA Suit Against TSA

National Public Radio reported this morning on a FOIA suit filed last week against the Transportation Security Administration by the American Civil Liberties Union, which is seeking documents related to the TSA’s behavioral profiling program.

The FOIA Project’s daily updates of Freedom of Information Act lawsuits captured the documents related to this case, currently comprised of the docket and the complaint.

Complaints often make for interesting reading, and this one is no exception. In it, the ACLU notes that “government auditors have repeatedly questioned the basic premise underlying the TSA’s behavior detection programs: that human behaviors reflecting deception or ill-intent can be detected reliably and objectively.”

It then goes on to site a number of the audits, including a 2013 Department of Homeland Security Inspector General report that found the “TSA cannot ensure that passengers at United States airports are screened objectively, show that the program is cost effective, or reasonably justify the program’s expansion.”

The ACLU asked for a variety of documents related to the program — including information on training, disproportional effects on minorities, and measures of effectiveness — in an Oct. 1, 2014 FOIA request to the agency. On Oct. 10, the agency informed the ACLU that it had denied its requests for a fee waiver and expedited processing. On Dec. 8, the ACLU administratively appealed that finding.

After hearing nothing further pertaining to its appeal or the release of the documents, the ACLU filed suit on March 19th in the Southern District of New York , according to the court records.