Judge Weighs Call to Expose Depth of Watchlist Distribution

Judge Weighs Call to Expose Depth of Watchlist Distribution

A federal magistrate will weigh a request that would force the U.S. government to disclose details about more than 1,400 private entities, including hospitals and universities, that have received access to parts of the government’s terrorist watchlist, VOA News reports.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations sued to challenge the constitutionality of the watchlist, which has hundreds of thousands of names on it. As part of the lawsuit, the government recently acknowledged its list of known or suspected terrorists is shared with private groups.

The government says private entities receiving access to the list include university police and hospital security.

CAIR wants the judge to order disclosure of exactly who receives the list at a hearing Friday. They believe the list is inaccurate and causes grief for innocent Muslims mistakenly placed on the list.