Civil Rights Newsletters
Domestic Security: Air Travel
The Transportation Security Administration has said that it plans to use data on June 2004 airline passengers to test its new Secure Flight Program, which is designed to prescreen airline passengers against "watch lists" of suspected terrorists. It is expected that the Secure Flight Program will become fully operational in early 2005. It is also anticipated that current "watch lists" used by individual airlines will be replaced by lists maintained by the Terrorist Screening Center, which is administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Enforcement of Voting Rights
Certain jurisdictions, including some states and counties, are expressly "covered" by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These political jurisdictions are comprised of a certain percentage or number of minority voters. Pursuant to the Voting Rights Act, federal courts and the United States Attorney General may "certify" states and counties as needing federal examiners and federal observers to monitor voter registration and voting practices.
Marriage Protection Act Proposed
As civil rights advocates voiced their disapproval of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and similar state measures, supporters of such laws realized that challenges to the constitutionality of the laws were inevitable. Hoping to avoid these challenges, some federal legislators wrote a bill called the Marriage Protection Act of 2004. In July 2004, the United States House of Representative passed the Marriage Protection Act. As of November 2004, the bill had not yet been passed in the Senate. It is anticipated that proponents of the bill will likely face an uphill battle in the Senate. Civil rights advocates say that if the Marriage Protection Act does become law, it would be the first time that Congress has completely "stripped" all federal courts from considering a federal law.
Race Discrimination Claims under § 1981
Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibits racial discrimination in making and enforcing contracts. Section 1981 protects an individual from racial discrimination not only in making and enforcing contracts, but also in participating in lawsuits and in giving evidence. For example, § 1981 has been applied to enforce contracts of employment, including contractual relationships of at-will employment. In 1991, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1991. In so doing, Congress amended § 1981 by adding § 1981(b) to cover claims of racially discriminatory termination.
Terrorist Screening
The Terrorist Screening Center is a multi-agency center that was established to consolidate and integrate various terrorist "watch lists" and to provide constant operational support for federal screeners. When the Terrorist Screening Database is fully functional, federal agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration should be able to access it online, in real time. Plans include making the Terrorist Screening Database capable of storing "biometric" information such as fingerprints. Private companies will be able to submit names of individuals for screening for any connection to terrorism.
