A Florida professor was arrested and removed from a plane Monday after his fellow passengers alerted crew members they thought he had a suspicious package in the overhead compartment.
That 'suspicious package' turned out to be keys, a bagel with cream cheese and a hat.
Two recent Fourth Amendment cases clarify the law relating to warrantless searches of a home and vehicle. One case deals with the community caretaker exception that allows police to enter a home without a warrant if they believe someone is in need of assistance. The other case deals with vehicle searches in light of a U.S. Supreme Court case restricting police authority.
WHEN: Thursday, January 6, 2011, 8:30 am Registration
WHERE: The Carnegie Institute for Science – 1530 P St. N.W. Washington, DC
WHO: Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ)
WHAT: An Assessment of the TSA Airport Body Scanner Program
This one-day symposium will explore the controversy surrounding the TSA airport screening program. Panelists will review the scientific and legal objections to the program and discuss areas for reform.
The new scanning technologies rolled out by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) are undignified and meant to be. The illusion of choice surrounding their use is intended to funnel us into an even more undignified situation. Be exposed electronically in full, or physically molested, or go back home. These are unprecedented demands on Americans moving through the theoretically free world, not some penitentiary or asylum.
The Transportation Security Administration cares deeply about privacy. Just not yours. While we are subject to invasive searches bordering on gynecological exams, the TSA has spent years defending its own privacy and successfully evading Freedom of Information Act requests.
On “Late Show with David Letterman” last night, NBC’s Brian Williams talked about recent heightened TSA screening procedures and had to admit, the TSA has gone there with him.
At least one major U.S. airline has restarted an old tradition: giving away little plastic wings to kids.
This practice had been curtailed in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks. If I told you the curtailment was done as a cost-cutting measure, well, that would be embarrassing enough (a set of wings can't run more than a penny or two). Actually, it's worse than that. The real reason is almost too pathetic to be believed: Transportation Security Administration banned the distribution of toy wings because of the small metal pin affixed to the backside.
More than 600 people have signed a petition against Metro’s new random bag searching policy.
The D.C. Bill of Rights Coalition and the Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition have been gathering signatures since the transit agency began checkpoints to randomly screen riders’ belongings for explosives late last month.
When it comes to privacy invasion, some folks must get hit below the belt before they cry foul.
'Don't touch my junk' has become the rallying cry of travelers who argue that Transportation Security Administration airport screenings have gone too far.
Last week, Richmond International Airport became the focus of this debate when Aaron B. Tobey was charged with disorderly conduct after taking off some of his clothes in protest at the security checkpoint. Inscribed on his torso was this message: 'Amendment 4: The right of the people to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated.'
But the assault on the Fourth Amendment began long before the TSA installed new high-tech body scanners at RIC in November 2008, or before it instituted aggressive airport pat-downs two months ago.
Images of Aaron Tobey's protest of airport search procedures were released this evening by Richmond International Airport Police.
The images and arrest information, requested through the state's Freedom of Information Act by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, show a frontal image of the 21-year-old Charlottesville resident's inked torso carrying the familiar words of the Fourth Amendment.
California's Supreme Court has ruled that the police don't need a warrant to read text messages held on a suspect's phone.This article also gets a +1 for actually linking to the text of the decision. Bravo!
The opinion was handed down during the trial of Gregory Diaz, arrested for drug dealing in 2007. On his arrest, the police found tabs of Ecstasy in his possession, along with a phone containing a suspicious text message that appeared to be agreeing a price.
Warrantless searches of 'persons, houses, papers, and effects' are permitted where they are 'incident to lawful arrest' - on the grounds that there's always a danger that the arrested person might try to conceal or destroy evidence.
