Secret criteria for U.S. no-fly list upheld by appeals court

SAN FRANCISCO — The largely secret criteria for the U.S. government’s no-fly list have been upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a case involving four people who sued over being barred from flying.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports a three-judge panel ruled Monday that the government has gone as far as the law requires in explaining the listing of each plaintiff without breaching national security.

The no-fly list has prevented thousands of people from boarding commercial aircraft flying to, from or over the U.S. since 2001.

The four plaintiffs in the lawsuit are U.S. citizens with no criminal records who have been barred from flying for nine years or more.

They claim federal officials have offered only vague reasons for why they are on the list.