How About the TSA's Heavy, Arbitrary Hand?

A couple weeks ago, ANN warned the world of another TSA move against aviators and their livelihoods, in the name of a misdirected 'national security' policy.

Briefly, the TSA can now simply blacklist any FAA certificate-holder, and the FAA must pull that airman's ticket, immediately, with no evidence of any kind required. The FAA has requested comments, and a few dozen, including ANN Publisher, Jim Campbell and ANN Correspondent Juan Jim�nez, have commented; here's mine --Tim Kern, News Editor, Aero-News Network

Re: FAA-2003-14293
This proposal is illegal, unnecessary, and unworkable.

1) It's illegal, because it deprives an individual of his Fifth Amendment protections, doing away with due process. (A certificate issued by the FAA permits exercise of 'liberty;' and it may also be a key to permit one to make a living -- a necessary condition to acquiring and holding 'property;' both liberty and property are protected by Amendment V.)
Additionally, since there is no known way to get on such a blacklist, there is also no known way to get off: since the TSA is the sole arbiter of the criteria used to blacklist a certificate holder, and since it need not in any way justify its placing a certificate-holder on such a list, the likelihood of a suspect's clearing himself through appeal to the agency that already declared him a 'threat,' is nil.
The suspended suspect cannot know the charges or witnesses against him, which is a clear violation of the Sixth Amendment (even though the TSA has opted to hold its own 'court,' another illegal aspect of this Rule).
In addition to the fact that the conditions determining a 'threat' are not known, the level of 'threat' that the TSA's suspect is alleged to pose has never been defined. With no threshold, anyone deemed to pose any kind of 'threat' could be deprived of his ability to make a living, with no notice, and no proper investigation.
It's also outside the TSA's authority, to dictate to the FAA which of the FAA's duly-issued certificates (and permits) must be suspended, with the FAA's not being privy to the TSA's reasoning. The FAA is the sole issuer of such paper; it also has the sole authority to pull it. (If the TSA has compelling evidence, let it convince the FAA.)

2) It's unnecessary, because the mere possession of a pilots' (or other) certificate is not a sufficient condition to flying, repairing, directing, etc., an aircraft; and the lack of one would not, under nearly all circumstances, do anything at all prevent a previous holder from practicing the craft. (If a person were intent on, say, committing suicide and/or taking innocent lives, would the threat of action subsequent to certificate suspension be a deterrent?)
Additionally, if the TSA can actually identify a 'security threat,' the mere notification to that person that he now holds a suspended certificate is unlikely to change any nefarious intent. If the TSA can identify such a threat, one would hope that suspension of his ticket would not be the government's only action.
The TSA has said that it would use this power perhaps once a year; if that were true, it would not need this Rule. That has already been demonstrated, in August of 2002, when the FAA cooperated in the suspensions of five certificates.

3) It's unworkable on several levels. First, as noted above, the suspension of such a ticket will not deter a criminal.
Secondly, if the suspect is indeed a threat, the mailing of such notice will most likely be ineffective.

If you'd like to add your own 2�, hit the link below, and reference Document # FAA-2003-14293.

FMI: link to comment page