Airline I.D. Requirements Do Exist…

…but no, we still can't know exactly what they are, the government says in a filing in the ongoing John Gilmore lawsuit challenging the till-now secret law. As Wired.com reports:

Justice Department lawyers also argued that Gilmore cannot challenge the requirement because it is not a law, it is a law enforcement technique.

"The identification-or-search requirement is simply a technique used to detect possible violations of the law, such as the prohibition on carrying a weapon or explosive onto the plane," they wrote. "While passengers have a right to know the law (that they cannot bring weapons on board), they have no due process entitlement to advance notice of how the Government might attempt to discover whether the law is being broken."

[Gilmore's lawyer William] Simpich dismissed that argument as absurd doublespeak.

"Drugs are against the law," Simpich said. "So blowing through your house to look for drugs is a law enforcement technique that you can't challenge, either."

Reason's feature article by me from our Aug./Sept. 2003 issue on phase one of Gilmore's fight here; an update on round two, also from me, here.