Walter F. Murphy, a retired Marine colonel, earned a Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross for fighting in the Korean War.
After receiving a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, he went on to teach political science at Princeton University, where he's now the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence Emeritus.
He's written more than a dozen books, won numerous awards and is widely regarded as one of the most influential constitutional scholars of his time.
And now he's been told he's on the "Terrorist Watch List."
It all started on March 1. He was on his way to speak about his new book, Constitutional Democracy: Creating and Maintaining a Just Political Order.
"I was going off to a conference at Princeton for this new book that Hopkins published, and I went to get a boarding pass at the curbside check-in and the guy said, 'No, I'm sorry, you can't have a boarding pass.' Why not? 'Because you're on the Terrorist Watch list. You'll have to go inside.' So I went inside," said Murphy.
The clerk at the counter confirmed what Murphy had already learned, but after he handed over his identification as a retired Marine colonel and waited "about ten minutes" he was told he'd be allowed to fly, but warned that his luggage would be ransacked.
"I don't disapprove of luggage of anyone on airlines being searched thoroughly, so I went back to Princeton, everything was well," he said.
But flying back home, he said, his luggage was lost.
"Now, that could probably be sheer coincidence because airlines are marvelous with losing luggage — I mean, that's probably the thing they do best."
In fact, Murphy admits that the entire situation could be coincidence - as those with names matching or similar to others on the no-fly list are often subject to additional scrutiny at the airport - but doubts it.
"I'm 77 years old ... and I never have ever seen - excluding my father - another Walter Murphy. There was a rock star back in the '60s, and I doubt if I'm confused with him," he said.
Rather, he believes it has to do with his televised criticism of President Bush.
"Last September I gave a talk at Princeton's Constitution Day and my topic was how George Bush was systematically destroying the American constitutional system by claiming that 'I am the decider' and having the authority to ignore acts of Congress, not to be obliged to follow judicial decisions ... and I simply contrasted this with James Madison's claim that if any one person, institution or one department of government had all the power, you had the very definition or the very essence of tyranny."
And according to Murphy, an American Airlines employee told him that giving such a speech could have landed him on the list.
Although the Transportation Security Administration does not confirm or deny whether or not someone is on the no-fly list, TSA spokesperson Ann Davis said that anyone who is on that list is, as the name implies, not permitted to fly. The fact that Murphy has been allowed to board his flights, therefore, suggests that he is not actually named on the agency's list but rather has the same or a similar name to someone who is.
The fact that Murphy was told that he was on a so-called "Terrorist Watch List" also doesn't make it so, she said.
"It's just a situation where... there is a name similar to Professor Murphy's on the list, and the air carrier is just asking him to provide some additional information... in order to get his boarding pass," Davis said.
Additionally, she stressed that "political views" are not part of the criteria for inclusion.
"There's been some speculation that one's political views can result in placement on the no-fly list," she said. "That's completely false. The only criteria that would result in placement on the no-fly list is if an individual is suspected of posing or actually poses a threat to civil aviation."
Murphy points out, however, that the secrecy inherent in the entire process makes the real reason for one's inclusion hard to know.
"They have a secret list, compiled in secret, by secret people, using secret information, and applying that secret information with a secret criteria," he said. "There's a certain lack of transparency here."
The no-fly list is an intrusive, unnecessary measure that the taxpayers shouldn't be funding, according to Jesse Benton, spokesperson for Congressman Ron Paul's (R-Texas) campaign for president.
"The fact that this conspiracy theory even exists is a big problem," said Benton. "When it comes to civil liberties, things need to be beyond reproach. When there's a possibility that this is because of some kind of retaliation, that's a huge problem. And this lack of clarity is really kind of chilling."
He also said it was "chilling" to hear about an ex-Marine colonel on what he called an "unconstitutional Terror Watch List."
Hopkins Professor Joel Grossman, who teaches constitutional law, has known Murphy for "many years." He said the situation is most likely an accident or a case of mistaken identity. But, if it's more than that, "we're at risk."
"If in fact that's more than an accident or just a human slip-up or something like that, then I think we have some problems that we need to work on and it's not at all unusual for government - whether it be Democrats or Republicans - to be paranoid about their political enemies."
Even if it is accidental, however, Grossman said this issue will lead to renewed debate over "what limits there should be in the pursuit of national security versus individual privacy. And there has to be some balance."
Murphy is also willing to admit that his current predicament may be unintentional.
"Understatement in this kind of situation is probably better than overstatement, because it's easy to get angry and make wild accusations and I don't want to do that," he said. "I'm perfectly willing to concede that some slip-up was made."
If it is just a simple mistake, though, everyone interviewed thinks it should be taken care of as soon as possible, and Murphy has sent in most of the forms requested by the TSA in order to get things sorted out. However, he isn't holding his breath.
"One guy called me and said he'd done it four months ago and nothing had happened," said Murphy. "He's still being stopped."
And as a veteran, Murphy is certainly unhappy with the situation.
"It does irritate the hell out of me that an administration headed by a pair of draft dodgers would question my loyalty to the United States," he said. "I mean, I shed my blood, and my friends shed their blood. I led troops who fought hard and many of them died and a lot more were wounded. And now suddenly I'm labeled an enemy of the United States?"
"That is, to put it mildly, somewhat irritating."
