Pa. couple sue federal agencies over no-fly list

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, August, 2008 | by Michael Matza Inquirer Staff Writer

Seeking to have their names stricken from the U.S. government's antiterrorist watch list, a Schuylkill County Muslim man and his wife filed suit yesterday against a host of federal agencies. Erich Scherfen, 37, and his wife, Rubina Tareen, 50, say they were unfairly added to the million-name Terrorist Screening Database without formal notification or any opportunity to clear their names.

The suit names the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Transportation Security Administration, and related agencies. Describing the situation as "Kafkaesque" and the electronic database as "a black hole," the couple say they were targeted and falsely stigmatized because of their religion. American-born Scherfen is a commercial pilot and combat veteran of the 1991 Gulf War who...