Pushback Against TSA Security

SUBHEAD: Federal, State and County officials slam TSA porno-scanners and groping at airports. Image above: "My First Cavity Search" illustration. From (http://www.libertariantoday.com/2010/11/bush-obama-national-security-state.html). By Rep. John Duncan on 17 November 2010 - Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., former Chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee and the current ranking Republican on the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, blasts TSA's invasive "pat downs" during a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives on November 17, 2010. Duncan also questions the role of lucrative government contracts in TSA's new naked body scanning machines. Video above: Rep John Duncan | November 17, 2010. From (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH-dpkJZiOM)

Below, in Trenton, New Jersey, State Senator Michael J. Doherty (R-Hunterdon, Warren) and State Senator James Beach (D-Camden) yesterday announced they will present resolutions to the Senate and Assembly calling on the U.S. Congress to end TSA screening procedures requiring full body scans and pat downs at U.S. airports Their action comes in response to widespread concerns over privacy and radiation, as well as reports of inappropriate conduct by TSA agents during the screening process. "The pursuit of security should not force Americans to surrender their civil liberties or basic human dignity at a TSA checkpoint," said Doherty. "Subjecting law-abiding American citizens to naked body scans and full body pat downs is intolerable, humiliating, vulnerable to abuse, and is fast becoming a disincentive to travel. Particularly concerning to us is the fact that physical searches result in children being touched in private areas of the body. Terrorists hate America because of the freedoms upon which this great nation was built. By implementing these screening measures, the TSA has already handed a victory to those who seek to destroy our freedoms." For full press release, visit (http://www.senatenj.com/index.php/doherty/sens-doherty-beach-introduce-resolution-calling-on-congress-to-reconsider-tsa-screening-procedures/7133). Video above: New Jersey Senate on November 15, 2010 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H9HNEtrvEE)

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DA will hear Complaints on TSA SUBHEAD: Bay Area District Attorney promises to prosecute overly touchy pat downs by TSA. By Lyanne Melendez on 16 November 2010 for ABC Local News - (Source: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=7793386) The San Mateo district attorney's office has a warning for all TSA personnel at San Francisco International Airport -- anyone inappropriately touching a passenger during a security pat down will be prosecuted.

Incoming San Mateo DA Steve Wagstaffe says any complaints of inappropriate touching during an airport security pat down will land on his desk.

"The case would be reviewed and if we could prove the elements of it, that it was inappropriately done with a sexual or lewd intent, that person would be prosecuted," he said.

The charge -- sexual battery.

"If it is skin to skin, if someone were to take their hand and put it underneath somebody's blouse and touch someone inappropriately and go skin to skin, that's a felony, and if it's done simply over the clothing, according to California law, that's a misdemeanor," Wagstaffe said.

More pat down searches are expected because some passengers are refusing to go through the image scanning device. Homeland Security announced more scanners are on the way as part of the enhanced security measures at all airports.

Homeland Security Sec. Janet Napolitano has said a passenger's privacy is protected.

"We built privacy concerns into the procedures when they were deployed," she said.

Not all travelers are buying Napolitano's claim.

"It's ridiculous and it's not safer, they are just doing it to have us more fearful and there is no reason for it," passenger Cathlyn Daley

But many passengers at SFO do not mind the enhanced security.

"I would much rather go through a little uncomfortableness and know that I will be safe or a least know that everything was done to protect me," passenger Suzanne Beaty said.

A few however, do.

"A stranger groping you basically," passenger David Barth said.

Passengers should know once they go through security, a TSA officer can ask them to submit to a pat down.

"At that point somewhere in that process you get to a point where you can't withdraw and you will be searched whether you like it or not," ABC7 legal analyst Dean Johnson said.

Wagstaffe has yet to receive a complaint.

SFO security screeners work for a company contracted by the TSA but undergo the same training and comply with the same regulations as TSA employees.

As for the assurance that the images from body scanners are never saved, tech blog Gizmodo obtained 100 saved photos after filing a request through the Freedom of Information Act, just a few of the 35,000 photos that were stored on a machine at the federal courthouse in Miami.

Gizmodo eliminated identifying features before posting them, but the pictures demonstrate the security issues still being worked out with the machines.

Video above: kdenninger|November 16, 2010 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko8uwkmMQ9E)

See also:

Ea O Ka Aina: National 'Opt-Out' Day 11/11/10 Ea O Ka Aina: Resistance to Porno-Scanners Increasing 11/15/10 Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai Tests for Terrorists 6/8/10

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