Today the Ninth Circuit court of appeals, which serves the western 1/5th of
America, begins work on Gilmore vs
Ashcroft. A brief summary is in order.
John Gilmore made millions as one of the original programmers at SUN. He
has since retired and become a full time philanthropist. He’s also one of
the founder of the EFF. On July 4th,
2002 he dared to challenge the ticket agent and refused to produce ID for
a flight he was scheduled to take. He was told that the law required
him to produce his ID. Furthermore, he was told that the law was secret
and he would not be allowed to read it.
This is a huge case for Americans as, if we win, it will establish that America
is not a police state and we’re not obligated to produce a papers on command
from anyone that asks for them. Please, get the word out on this case. It’s
a little difficult to influence the courts, but it’s important to know what
they’re up to.
