The TSA Has Shifted to Law Enforcement?

[Laylee]

I didn't think that TSA workers had a blanket search warrant.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar ... Dec19.html

Laylee

[SabiarofErudin]

Wow..what a neat story




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[Laylee]

In the immortal words of Cartman.... god damn it guys.


WFT, I read it just find the first time and now it wants me to register too


If you go here http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=s ... t_security

and then click on the story on the left side, you don't have to register. But here's the article anyway.

************************************************

Grateful Dead Songwriter Contests TSA Search

By Sara Kehaulani Goo
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 20, 2004; Page A09

John Perry Barlow, a 56-year-old former songwriter for the Grateful Dead, was settled into his airline seat for departure when a flight attendant asked him to get his belongings and leave the plane immediately.

Airport security workers at San Francisco International Airport had come upon some suspicious-looking wires inside his checked luggage while conducting a routine inspection. No explosives turned up, but screeners allegedly did find a hypodermic needle in a suitcase along with a small amount of marijuana and illegal hallucinogenic drugs in a bottle of ibuprofen. Barlow's travel plans suddenly changed that day in September 2003: he was charged with five counts of misdemeanor possession of illegal drugs and carted off to the Redwood City jail.

Barlow is battling the government in the latest legal case to question the breadth of the Transportation Security Administration's searches and the secrecy of the agency's screening policies. Barlow, co-founder of the cyber-rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation, contends that the alleged drugs cannot be admitted as evidence because they were seized illegally. He has sought information on TSA's policies as part of his defense.

In his case and in several other ones, TSA has claimed it cannot reveal anything about its practices for fear of compromising "security sensitive information." The agency made such a claim in a California case involving two peace activists who want to know why they and hundreds of others are on the agency's secret "No Fly" list. TSA invoked a similar concern when a wealthy technology entrepreneur, John Gilmore, challenged the agency's requirement that passengers show government identification in order to board an aircraft.

Judge Harry Papadakis ruled against Barlow's motion on illegal seizure earlier this week in California Superior Court in San Mateo County. Barlow said he plans to appeal and continue his push for information about TSA's policies.

"The defendant is trying to make this case something it is not," said Sheryl Wolcott, deputy district attorney for San Mateo County. "It was a standard type of search. We have to balance the privacy interest of a person's luggage versus the security interest of the public who is boarding the plane. It's a pretty simple case."

Security screeners open and search millions of checked bags every day. The searches are so common that TSA now recommends that passengers leave their luggage unlocked because of the high likelihood a screener's hand will find its way inside. Legal experts said the court has not clearly ruled as to whether security screeners -- in this case a security worker employed by a private company contracting with TSA -- can go beyond their duties of looking for explosives in checked bags.

"What we hope to achieve is to shed some light on how these airport searches are conducted. . . . whether screeners can do whatever they want, wherever they want. It's all been kept under a shroud of secrecy," Barlow said.

TSA spokeswoman Yolanda Clark said the agency has "an obligation as federal employees to bring any discovered contraband to the attention of proper law enforcement authorities." She did not provide a tally of the amount of drugs or other items screeners had turned over to authorities. "We don't open bags to discover contraband, but if we do uncover it, we can't ignore it."

Courts have been clear about the authority of officials to seize illegal items in plain sight. But Barlow claims that TSA went beyond its authority because, according to police documents, the bottle containing the drugs was located inside a pocket of Barlow's bag that was not near the wires that first caused suspicion. According to police documents, the screener looked at the wires first, and then continued to probe the suitcase and found the alleged drugs.

Paul Rothstein, a criminal law professor at Georgetown University, said the extent to which airport screeners can probe for illegal materials is still a legally unexplored area. But, he said, he doesn't think Barlow will win.

"It's fairly clear that if you're searching for one thing and you find another, that the other may be used" in a prosecution so long as the official did not go beyond the area where they are allowed to search, Rothstein said.

The TSA will have to explain why it continued to search Barlow's luggage if the agency and the state want to proceed with the case, said Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union. "If they start charging people with crimes, particularly crimes not relevant to their mission, they're going to have to turn over their security directives" that explain what they are doing and how, he said.

If found guilty, Barlow faces court-ordered drug treatment.

"Anytime you can get the government to stop and think about whether or not they're still on target with their mission, that's a valuable piece of a citizen's work," Barlow said. "You find yourself in situations where you know something has to be done. If you're not going to do it, who is?"

[Mozmonar]

I don't really have a problem with allowing TSA workers to search bags on planes without acquiring a search warrant first. I likewise don't particularly care if that inconveniences traveling drug users. I am willing to give up certain privacy rights in that limited situation.

p.s. The Grateful Dead sucked.

[Akhbarali]

I likewise don't particularly care if that inconveniences traveling drug users.

It really doesn't even do that unless you are a complete idiot. I seriously doubt the screeners would have "dicky checked" the guy if he just had the sense to shove it down his pants. I fly frequently and as far as I'm concerned anything being checked on to a plane should be fair game for the TSA to inspect/search. I am confident the courts will agree with that position and would have even prior to 9/11.

Akhbar

[Torakus]

Gonna have to agree with TSA here. You sign your right to privacy away when you buy the ticket. In fact the tiny little writing on it says so. This same situation occured daily in airports around the nation prior to 9/11 anyway and resulted in seizure of contraband and arrest of the passenger. It is nothing new, but post 9/11 every Michael Moore wannabe pot head is crawling out of the cracks when they get busted screaming the evil Bush Administration and his jack booted TSA are oppressing them and they want justice. Guess what skippy? Justice for you is 30 days in county. Now shut the fuck up and stop wasting my tax dollars.

Tora

[Bahd Zoolander]

You need to stuff it in your bra in between your boobs for safety. They can't touch you there unless they suspect you have explosives. Otherwise the must limit their touchy feely to the breast perimiter.

Not sure if there is a nutsack perimiter.

I flew out of dulles in June, and they were on some sort of security alert where everyone had to take off their shoes, and it seemed like about 20% of people were being asked to open carry on bags, but I don't remember them patting me down at all. I guess fat and sweaty is good for something after all.