The governments consolidated terrorist watchlist was created in March 2004 by merging previously separate watchlists that were once maintained by different gov¿t. agencies. The watchlist is managed by the FBI. As of Dec. 31, 2008, the terrorist watchlist contained more than 1.1 million known or suspected terrorist identities. This report: (1) determines whether subjects of FBI terrorism invest. are appropriately and timely watchlisted and if these records are updated with new info; (2) determines whether subjects of closed FBI terrorism invest. are removed from the terrorist watchlist in a timely manner; and (3) examines the FBI¿s watchlist nomination practices for individuals that were not associated with current terrorism case designations. Illustrations.

"The Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) was created to consolidate the U.S. government's approach to terrorism screening and to develop and maintain a database of information about known or suspected terrorists, known as the Terrorist Screening Database (TSBD) or terrorist watchlist. The TSC is administered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with support from the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), the Intelligence Community, and law enforcement agencies." -- Executive summary.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) maintains a consolidated watch list of known or appropriately suspected terrorists and sends records from the list to agencies to support terrorism-related screening. Because the list is an important tool for combating terrorism, GAO examined (1) standards for including individuals on the list, (2) the outcomes of encounters with individuals on the list, (3) potential vulnerabilities and efforts to address them, and (4) actions taken to promote effective terrorism-related screening. To conduct this work, GAO reviewed documentation obtained from and interviewed officials at TSC, the FBI, the National Counterterrorism Center, the Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies that perform terrorism-related screening.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. This review was initiated in response to concerns over whether the FBI had improperly targeted domestic advocacy groups for investigation based solely upon their exercise of First Amendment rights. FBI investigative activity was reviewed relating to five groups and one individual: The Thomas Merton Center of Pittsburgh, PA; The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA); Greenpeace USA; The Catholic Worker Movement; Greenpeace and The Catholic Worker at Vandenburg Air Force Base; and Glen Milner (a ¿Quaker¿ or Religious Society of Friends peace activist).

For over sixty million Americans, possessing a criminal record overshadows everything else about their public identity. A rap sheet, or even a court appearance or background report that reveals a run-in with the law, can have fateful consequences for a person’s interactions with just about everyone else. The Eternal Criminal Record makes transparent a pervasive system of police databases and identity screening that has become a routine feature of American life. The United States is unique in making criminal information easy to obtain by employers, landlords, neighbors, even cyberstalkers. Its nationally integrated rap-sheet system is second to none as an effective law enforcement tool, but it has also facilitated the transfer of ever more sensitive information into the public domain. While there are good reasons for a person’s criminal past to be public knowledge, records of arrests that fail to result in convictions are of questionable benefit. Simply by placing someone under arrest, a police officer has the power to tag a person with a legal history that effectively incriminates him or her for life. In James Jacobs’s view, law-abiding citizens have a right to know when individuals in their community or workplace represent a potential threat. But convicted persons have rights, too. Jacobs closely examines the problems created by erroneous record keeping, critiques the way the records of individuals who go years without a new conviction are expunged, and proposes strategies for eliminating discrimination based on criminal history, such as certifying the records of those who have demonstrated their rehabilitation.