RFRA: A Pathway to Challenging the Terrorist Screening Database
Nikita Ganesh* | 27.6 | Citation: Nikita Ganesh, RFRA: A Pathway to Challenging the Terrorist Screening Database, 27 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 1259 (2026).
The United States Government’s Terrorist Watchlist has traditionally been a black box, shielded from scrutiny under the well-established justification of national security. Individuals currently on the Watchlist are unaware of their status and have no means of challenging their placement. Although the judiciary has acted on rare occasions to hold that the government’s use of the Watchlist violated plaintiffs’ constitutional rights, the system’s perceived lack of due process is evident as litigants, primarily Muslim, continue to challenge the Watchlist’s constitutionality.
This Comment posits the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”) provides an avenue for a Muslim litigant to challenge her placement on the Terrorist Watchlist. Specifically, it suggests that a Muslim litigant may establish that she has a sincerely held religious belief that is substantially burdened by the government and is, thus, entitled to an individual exemption to challenge her placement on the Watchlist. This Comment also outlines the potential remedies under RFRA, including the possibility for monetary damages, and argues that litigation under RFRA may be an effective tool to prompt executive action and reform the current reasonable suspicion standard for inclusion in the Watchlist. An overinclusive Watchlist not only subjects the innocent individuals captured in it to various harms but also limits the effectiveness of the government’s counterterrorism measures.
*J.D., 2024, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.