Originally Posted by law dawg
It is only a violation of civil rights if the person has an inherent right to privacy and it is violated without 1) probable cause, 2) warrant (essentially same thing) or 3) national security.
Do you have a right to fly? And is it in the national security interest of the country to check names against a watch-list?
My opinion (and this will be fought in the courts for years to come, IMO) is no and yes, respectively.
Do you have a right to take a taxi? No, you take a taxi as a contract between you and the taxi driver. If the taxi driver doesn't want to take you then he doesn't have to.
If the Air Carriers doesn't want to sell a ticket or doesn't want you to fly it is up to them. In order to get to your perferred destination you contracted with the carrier to rent a seat on their vehicle and will use the airport services to get to the plane. To use these services you must be screened through a security checkpoint.
You do have a right not to be screened by not using the services of the air carriers and airport.