The federal government is revising its controversial "no fly" list protocols, the Department of Justice said in court filings last Friday.
In a motion to stay an ongoing lawsuit challenging the government’s no fly list protocols, Justice Department attorneys said the government is revising its procedures for administrative appeals of those who believe they have been placed on the no fly list.
"The Government is revising current redress procedures to increase transparency of the process for certain persons denied boarding on commercial aircraft," the memorandum said.
The motion was first reported by the Federation of American Scientists’ Steven Aftergood.
Justice Department attorneys said the revised no fly procedures are expected to be completed by January 16, 2015.
The Justice Department filed the motion in response to a lawsuit brought by Gulet Mohamed, a Virginia resident who is challenging the constitutionality of the no fly list on due process grounds.
In October, a judge rejected the Justice Department attempts to dismiss Mohamed’s lawsuit on claims that it would reveal state secrets.
The government initiated the revisions in response to a court order in another lawsuit challenging the no fly list, Ayman Latif v. Holder.
Earlier this year, a Malaysian professor who was placed on the no fly list by mistake became the first person to successfully challenge and be removed from the terrorist watch-listing program after a seven-year legal battle.
The Washington Post reported earlier this year that, as of Dec. 2013, there were 1.1 million people in a government database of known or suspected terrorists. Of those, 47,000 were on the no-fly list, 800 of whom were Americans.
The government also refuses to confirm or deny a person’s watch-list status, a policy that civil liberties advocates say severely limits the recourse available to those who believe they’ve been wrongly identified as a terrorist threat.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.