Crooker v. Transp. Sec. Admin.
Crooker v. Transp. Sec. Admin.
Opinion of the Court
I. INTRODUCTION
The Plaintiff, Michael Alan Crooker ("Crooker"), filed this action against the Transportation Security Administration ("TSA") of the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States Department of Justice ("FBI" and collectively, the "Defendants") seeking a declaratory judgment that the Defendants' policies, practices and customs violate the United States Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act. Crooker also seeks an injunction to remedy such violations, including: (1) the removal of Crooker's name from any watch list or database that prevents him from flying, (2) a disclosure of the reasons and bases for his inclusion on the federal government's "No Fly List," and (3) the opportunity to contest such inclusion before a live, neutral decision-maker.
The Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) and (6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, asserting that the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction on the action and that Crooker fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. In the alternative, the Defendants request that the Court stay proceedings in this case pending Crooker's exhaustion of his administrative remedies.
A. Procedural History
Crooker filed his complaint on January 19, 2018, Compl., ECF No. 1, and later amended it on March 26, 2018, Am. Compl., ECF No. 38. On April 16, 2018, the Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint, Defs.' Mot. Dismiss Am. Compl. ("Defs.' Mot."), ECF No. 43, along with a motion to stay, in the alternative, Defs.' Mot. Stay Am. Compl. ("Defs.' Mot. Stay"), ECF No. 45. Both motions were fully briefed. See Defs.' Mem. Law Supp. Mot. Dismiss ("Defs.' Mem. Dismiss"), ECF No. 44; Defs.' Mem. Law Supp. Mot. Stay ("Defs.' Mem. Stay"), ECF No. 46; Pl.'s Opp'n Defs.' Mot. Stay Am. Compl. ("Pl.'s Opp'n Stay"), ECF No. 47, Pl.'s Opp'n Defs.' Mot. Dismiss Am. Compl. ("Pl.'s Opp'n Dismiss"), ECF No. 48; Defs.' Reply Pl.'s Opp'n ("Defs.' Reply"), ECF No. 51.
After a motion session held on June 11, 2018, at which this Court took the matter under advisement, the parties filed additional briefs. See Defs.' Suppl. Mem. Mot. Dismiss & Mot. Stay ("Defs.' Suppl. Mem."), ECF No. 58; Pl.'s Reply Suppl. ("Pl.'s Suppl. Reply"), ECF No. 59.
B. Facts Alleged
Crooker is a Massachusetts citizen residing in Southwick, Massachusetts, employed *151as a shuttle bus driver for LAZ Fly Airport Parking ("LAZ Fly"), located in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Am. Compl. ¶ 2. He is an ex-offender released from a federal prison on March 15, 2017, to home confinement and then on August 22, 2017, released from home confinement. Id. ¶ 5. Crooker's convictions were: (a) mailing a threatening communication to an officer of the United States in violation of
The Defendants are the agencies of the United States.
LAZ Fly is a public sector company and is known as an "off-airport parking company," which has contractual arrangements with the Connecticut Airport Authority ("CAA") to shuttle airline passengers.
Crooker disclosed his federal conviction status in his LAZ Fly hiring paperwork and included the name and phone number of his federal probation officer, Jesse Gomes ("Gomes").
Gomes, concerned about Crooker's possible presence in the restricted areas of the airport, sought clearance from the TSA and spoke with Steven Blindbury ("Blindbury") at the TSA about Crooker's employment driving airline passengers to and from the public curb of the airport terminal.
On September 24, 2017, LAZ Fly informed Crooker that he could no longer drive to the airport, and later, on or about October 11, 2017, his job was terminated.
Crooker contacted FBI Special Agent Richard Winfield ("Winfield"), who informed Crooker that the Terrorist Screening Center ("TSC") adds names to the No Fly List and instructed him that the only available remedy is to file a Traveler Redress Inquiry Program Form ("TRIP Form") with DHS.
On November 14, 2017, Crooker received an email from the TSA stating that *152"TSA can neither confirm nor deny whether an individual is on a Federal watch list because this information is derived from classified and sensitive law enforcement and intelligence information" and that Crooker's issue was beyond the TSA's jurisdiction.
Crooker subsequently brought this action.
C. Statutory and Regulatory Background
1. The Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Terrorist Screening Center
The TSA, as an agency within DHS, has the duty to secure all modes of transportation, including aviation security.
The FBI investigates and analyzes intelligence relating to both domestic and international terrorist activities, see
"The TSC is a multi-agency center administered by the [FBI] and is the U.S. Government's consolidated counterterrorism watchlisting component responsible for the management and operation of the Terrorist Screening Database, commonly known as 'the watchlist.' " Terrorist Screening Center, Frequently Asked Questions at 1 (last updated Jan. 2017) ("TSC FAQ"), https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/terrorist-screening-center-frequently-asked-questions.pdf. The TSC "ensures the timely dissemination of terrorist identity information to screening partners such as the Department of State, [DHS], and federal, state, and local law enforcement to provide for the appropriate and lawful use of terrorism-related information."
2. The Terrorist Screening Database and the No Fly List
The Terrorist Screening Database ("TSDB") is the government's "consolidated database containing sensitive law enforcement and national security information concerning the identity information of those who are known to be or reasonably suspected of being involved in terrorist activities."Id. The procedure for submission of identity information for inclusion in the TSDB is known as the "watchlist nomination process."
The No Fly List is a subset of the TSDB consisting of the names of individuals who *153pose a threat to civil aviation or national security. Id."Inclusion on the No Fly List prohibits an individual from boarding a commercial aircraft that traverses" the airspace of the United States.
TSA is able to identify such individuals through the "Secure Flight" program, see
The No Fly List is statutorily protected as Sensitive Security Information ("SSI") pursuant to
3. DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program ("DHS TRIP")
Congress obliged TSA to "establish a procedure to enable airline passengers, who are delayed or prohibited from boarding a flight because the advanced passenger prescreening system determined that they might pose a security threat, to appeal such determination and correct information contained in the system."
II. ANALYSIS
Crooker's amended complaint (deleting certain allegations against individuals in Connecticut) was filed only to "comply with the Confidential Settlement Agreement that disposed of the Connecticut federal civil case and the Connecticut state FOIA" case against the CAA. Pl.'s Opp'n Dismiss 1. "Under Rule 12(b)(6), the district court may properly consider only facts and documents that are part of or incorporated into the complaint; if matters outside the pleadings are considered, the motion must be decided under the more stringent standards applicable to a Rule 56 motion for summary judgment."
*154Trans-Spec Truck Serv., Inc. v. Caterpillar Inc.,
A. Standard of Review
When considering motions to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), "the district court must construe the complaint liberally, treating all well-pleaded facts as true and indulging all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff." Aversa v. United States,
It is the plaintiff's burden to prove that subject matter jurisdiction exists. Aversa,
B. Subject Matter Jurisdiction
Where citizens no longer enjoy the protections of a jury of their peers,
Not surprisingly, here the Defendants argue that Crooker's amended complaint must be dismissed because this Court does not have subject matter jurisdiction to hear the claims pursuant to section 46110 providing for exclusive review of TSA final actions in the courts of appeal.
The Defendants read the restrictive judicial review provision far too broadly. In Mokdad v. Lynch,
although Congress has given TSA the responsibility of establishing redress procedures for travelers who believe they have been wrongly included on the No Fly List, TSA does not determine who is placed on the No Fly List; TSC does.... TSC is administered by the FBI. The fact that TSC is an interagency center that is staffed by officials from multiple agencies, including the FBI, DHS, Department of State, Customs and Border Protection, and also TSA, does not transform TSC's order placing an individual on the No Fly List into an order of the TSA.
*155
In sum, the Sixth Circuit concluded that the district court had subject matter jurisdiction as the plaintiff's action constituted a challenge to an order of the TSC, which was not an agency enumerated in the exclusive-review statute. Mokdad,
C. Standing
As Justice Scalia explained in Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife,
[O]ur cases have established that the irreducible constitutional minimum of standing contains three elements. First, the plaintiff must have suffered an "injury in fact" -- an invasion of a legally protected interest which is (a) concrete and particularized and (b) "actual or imminent, not 'conjectural' or 'hypothetical.' " Second, there must be a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of -- the injury has to be "fairly ... trace[able] to the challenged action of the defendant, and not ... th[e] result [of] the independent action of some third party not before the court." Third, it must be "likely," as opposed to merely "speculative," that the injury will be "redressed by a favorable decision."
1. Injury in Fact
"[T]here is ordinarily little question" of injury when the plaintiff is himself the object of the government action he challenges.
Here, Crooker alleges that TSA has made a disclosure to a third party that has resulted in a concrete injury to Crooker. See Am. Compl. ¶ 13; Letter from CAA Dep't of Public Safety. He has lost a job, a job that means a lot to him.
2. Causation
The second requirement of standing is "a causal connection between the injury and the conduct complained of." Lujan,
Crooker alleges that but for the TSA disclosure, he would not have lost his job. It is true that Crooker no longer seeks the relief related to his employment that was included in his original complaint. He focuses now on removing his name from the No Fly List. Nevertheless, Crooker alleges he lost his job because of the disclosure, which inferentially suggests that there is a causal connection between the Defendants' actions and Crooker's injury.
*1563. Redressability
Finally, Crooker must show that "it [is] likely, as opposed to merely speculative, that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision."
It is here that Crooker's claim for standing is the weakest. True, he seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, but his claims are so broad as to reach beyond the subject matter jurisdiction of this Court in light of the restrictive review requirement of
D. Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies
The Defendants argue that before bringing a judicial action, Crooker must first properly exhaust his administrative remedies.
The Supreme Court acknowledges that "parties [ought] exhaust prescribed administrative remedies before seeking relief from the federal courts," as exhaustion "serves the twin purposes of protecting administrative agency authority and promoting judicial efficiency." McCarthy v. Madigan,
"There is very little guidance in any Circuit considering administrative exhaustion as it pertains to the Redress Program and there is no case law in [the Sixth] Circuit." Shearson v. Holder,
On the one hand, "when considering the purposes of the exhaustion doctrine, making [the plaintiff] submit a Traveler Redress inquiry is reasonable to promote judicial efficiency and allow the agencies involved an opportunity to resolve problems with their procedures."
"[W]here Congress has not clearly required exhaustion, sound judicial discretion governs" whether or not it should be required. McCarthy,
Ordering the Defendants to process a TRIP application for Crooker may be all that Crooker can accomplish in this case. Despite the Defendants' arguments and declarations, Decl. Deborah O. Moore ("Moore Decl.") ECF No. 58-1 and Decl. Timothy P. Groh ("Groh Decl.") ECF No. 58-2, this Court believes that granting Crooker such an order is the only just and fair thing for Crooker. After all, fiat justitia ruat cælum (let justice be done though the heavens fall). Lord Mansfield in Somerset v. Stewart, 98 ER 499 (1772).
E. Deficiencies of the Current Redress Procedure.
In his interaction with DHS TRIP, Crooker received an answer stating only that "[a]fter reviewing your inquiry, we have determined that it falls outside the scope of the DHS TRIP program," and TSA jurisdiction. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 17, 24. This is not surprising, since Crooker never tried to board a domestic or international flight. The Defendants point out that any information on the No Fly List is deemed "to be sensitive security information that may not be publicly released." Defs.' Mem. Dismiss 6 (quoting Napolitano,
The Defendants thus create a Kafkaesque situation -- indeed a potential violation of the Constitution's due process clause.
Other courts have noticed this issue: "There are thousands of people on the government's terrorist watchlists, and there are thousands more people each year whom the government misidentifies as being on the lists." Shearson,
Even so, the Defendants argue that allowing Crooker to have his TRIP application processed will open the floodgates to other inquiries and will have a detrimental effect on national security. The floodgates argument is frequently raised with but vague meaning and few facts to support its sometimes-shaky foundations. See Marin K. Levy, Judging the Flood of Litigation,
This case has a discrete set of alleged facts: the TSA makes a disclosure, Crooker loses his job. It is nobody's fault. He's trying to clear his name following government-established procedures. There may be other analogous cases. They will come before competent judges who can distinguish those cases from this one. At the hearing on Crooker's motion to dismiss, this Court inquired about other cases like this one. There has been no response.
*158There is nothing to the floodgates argument.
III. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint, ECF No. 43, and Motion to Stay the Case Pending Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies, ECF No. 45. The Court rules that it has a limited area of subject matter jurisdiction here, Crooker has standing, and he need not exhaust any administrative remedy other than submitting a TRIP application. While the Court has limned a possible remedy should the alleged facts prove true, it is in no position to fashion a remedy absent proof of the alleged facts. Unless settled, the parties shall be trial ready by October, 2018.
SO ORDERED.
"[W]here a jury sits, there burns the lamp of liberty." Hon. William G. Young, Address at the Judicial Luncheon, Florida Bar's Annual Convention in Orlando (June 28, 2007). Today, however, with administrative agencies constantly expanding their interpretation of the "public rights" exception to the right to a civil jury trial, see William G. Young, Review; The Missing American Jury, Law360 (Nov. 23, 2016) (decrying this encroachment), a citizen in dispute with the administrative state but rarely can count on the Seventh Amendment jury trial right.
A consequence of the erosion of the jury trial right may well be, as the text explains, a diminution in the ability to have access to the courts altogether.
The American Civil Liberties Union has also criticized this process, calling it "grossly insufficient." Know Your Rights; What to Do If You Think You're on a No-Fly List, ACLU (2018), https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/what-do-if-you-think-youre-no-fly-list.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Michael Alan CROOKER v. TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION and The Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published