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Law

Following Judge's Ruling, Changes On The Way For No-Fly List

Elaine Thompson
/
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Changes are coming to the federal government's no-fly list, but it’s not yet clear what those changes will be.

It all stems from a ruling this summer by a federal judge in Portland. One of the plaintiffs was turned away from a flight after an airline agent said he was on the no-fly list. The man sued after he couldn't even get the government to confirm whether he was on the list, much less why.

The Portland judge called the incident unconstitutional and as a result, the government is promising changes.

The Obama administration has offered very few details about the planned changes. But in a court filing earlier this month, officials did say they'll try to be more transparent with travelers who are denied boarding and believe the reason is because they're on the no-fly list.

The list was established as a counter-terrorism response after the Sept. 11 attacks. Intelligence officials have told The Associated Press that the list includes about 48,000 names.

Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.