Lower Court Holding MacLean v. DHS
Decision of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Robert MacLean became an air marshal in 2001. In July 2003, all marshals received a briefing from the Transportation Security Administration that there was a “‘potential plot’ to hijack U.S. airliners.” Soon after that briefing, however, the agency sent an unencrypted text message to the marshals’ cellphones cancelling all missions on flights from Las Vegas until early August. After receiving this directive, MacLean became concerned that “suspension of overnight missions during a hijacking alert created a danger to the flying public.” He complained to his supervisor and to the Office of Inspector General, but they responded that nothing could be…
