Logan Airport Faces Lawsuit From ACLU's Top Anti-Profiling Official

Boston, MA (AHN) - The case filed by the head of the American Civil Liberties Union's racial profiling campaign against the Massachusetts Port Authority began on Monday in District Court.

King Downing, an attorney and the national coordinator of the ACLU's campaign against racial profiling, claims he was the victim of profiling that resulted from the behavioral screening system used at Logan International Airport. He had just left a flight in October 2003 when he was stopped and questioned by state troopers.

Downing, who is African-American and wears a beard, alleges that state police requested him for identification after he left the gate area and made a phone call at the terminal. He was asked to leave the airport when he refused, and then surrounded by four troopers who said he was under arrest for being unable to provide identification. He then showed the officers his driver's license, but was only allowed to leave after he provided his airline ticket. No charges were filed against him.

Logan was the first airport in the country to adopt a program called "Behavior Assessment Screening System," a year after the September 11, 2001 terrorists hijacked two planes from the airport.

The program, which has faced strong criticism from human rights advocates, allows police to stop and question passengers who appear suspicious. The program, according to one of Downing's lawyers, "introduces into the screening system a number of highly subjective elements left to the discretion of the individual officer."

The Transportation Security Administration has repeatedly conceded that the program needs constant monitoring and adjustments, and that people at airports are often agitated due to worry over flight delays, fear of flying and other reasons.

"We welcome the opportunity to defend the program in court," said Matthew Brelis, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates the airport told the Associated Press.