On April 21, 2011, a federal appeals court ruled the head of a Cleveland area civil rights group may proceed with a lawsuit claiming the federal government illegally collected personal information about her political and religious activities. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s ruling overturns a March 2007 district court decision that dismissed Julia Shearson’s request for the release of government records. She seeks to learn why she was stopped and searched at the U.S. Canada border in 2006. The case will be sent back to the lower court.

According to Courthouse News, in 2006 Shearson was returning from a weekend trip to Canada with her four year old daughter when she was detained at the border.  A federal computer system tagged her as “armed and dangerous,” and border patrol agents “handcuffed and detained her for several hours.” After damaging Shearson’s vehicle during a search, the agents released her and her daughter without any explanation.
Shearson filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records about her case from the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). CBP admitted that the computer alert was false and released nine pages of heavily redacted documents.  But after CBP refused to release any additional information, Shearson filed suit in the Northern District of Ohio. The district judge dismissed Shearson’s claims, ruling that the government’s records were exempted under the Privacy Act. The Circuit Court’s ruling, which overturned the district court, said the Privacy Act does not permit government agencies “to exempt themselves from this provision.”
The Justice Department declined to comment, but may petition for a rehearing before the full Circuit.
Shearson is the executive director of the Cleveland chapter of the Council on Islamic Relations.