Legal Abracadabra: Why the TSA’s Sexual Assaults Are "Constitutional"

From the New American:

If you aren’t already convinced that judicial robes cloak the biggest set of fools and tyrants outside Congress, a decision last week from the DC Court of Appeals should finish the job.

At issue was the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) carcinogenic porno-scanners at the nation’s airports — contraptions so evil that the TSA has repeatedly, constantly lied about their dangers to both our health and modesty as passengers who submissively shed their shoes and bag their liquids revolt against this final indignity.

When the porno-scanners invaded concourses around the country last summer, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) sued the Feds for “screen[ing] airline passengers by using advanced imaging technology [the TSA’s euphemism for ‘porno-scanners’; the agency used to call them ‘whole-body imagers,’ but that apparently contained too much truth and not enough jargon] instead of magnetometers. [EPIC] argue[s] this use of AIT violates various federal statutes and the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States…”

Are Student Cell Phone Records Discoverable?

From Law.com:

The debate over when officials can search a student's cell phone is an emerging e-discovery issue. This is illustrated in the recent case N.N. v. Tunkhannock Area School District, Civil Action No. 3:10-CV-1080, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

In this case, a student at Tunkhannock Area High School in Tunkhannock, Pa., violated a school policy requiring cell phones to be turned off and stored in lockers during the school day by placing a call from her cell phone while on school property. A teacher confiscated the phone. School officials then examined the contents of the cell phone and discovered what appeared to be inappropriate photographs stored in the phone's memory.

The phone was turned over to the police. The court opinion states that, 'Aside from one photograph taken by a female friend, the photographs were taken by [the student] alone, and were intended for the sole consumption of herself and her long-term boyfriend. The photographs were taken off school property, were saved to the cell phone, were never e-mailed or uploaded to the internet, and were not shared with other students.'

Florida Makes $63M Selling Drivers' Info

From WPLG Miami:

The state of Florida made $63 million last year selling what many think is personal information.

Local 10 has learned the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is selling people's names, addresses, dates of birth, a list of the vehicles they drive, and it's legal.

'Per federal mandate, there are companies that are entitled to this information. Insurance companies, for example, are entitled to this information. Employers are entitled to this information,' said Ann Howard of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

The state is currently selling this information to companies including Lexus Nexus and Shadow Soft. Those companies gather data on people and then sell that data. The companies must sign contracts with state claiming they won't harass people.

Lawyer: Cop scanner ‘crosses line’

From the BostonHerald.com:

Civil libertarians are raising the alarm over the state’s plans to create a Big Brother database that could map drivers’ whereabouts with police cruiser-mounted scanners that capture thousands of license plates per hour — storing that information indefinitely where local cops, staties, feds and prosecutors could access it as they choose.

“What kind of a society are we creating here?” asked civil rights lawyer Harvey Silverglate, who along with the ACLU fears police abuse. “There comes a point where the surveillance is so pervasive and total that it’s a misnomer to call a society free any longer.”

The computerized scanners, known as Automatic License Plate Recognition devices, instantly check for police alerts, warrants, traffic violations and parking tickets, which cops say could be an invaluable tool in thwarting crime. The Executive Office of Public Safety has approved 27 grants totaling $500,000 to buy scanners for state police and 26 local departments. The purchases are on hold while state lawyers develop a policy for the use of a common state database all the scanners would feed.

PlaneRed To Taunt Airlines, TSA

From Forbes:

Flying sucks. While usually I’d choose more elaborate and pleasant language, this industry requires me to be blunt and crass in the same way it treats its customers. For hundreds of dollars, you’ll suffer cramped quarters, torn seating, rude staff, interrogations, endless (yet ‘standard’) wait-times, and overall an experience that makes no sense on the get-what-you-paid-for scale. Even the best of the best – Virgin America – only just scrapes the pleasantries of your average cross-country train journey. PlaneRed‘s CEO, Wade Eyerly, wants to fix this shoddy state of affairs.

Woman boards plane with 3-inch knife TWICE but TSA shrug it off because explosives are 'biggest threat'

From the Mail Online:

An Indianapolis woman was shocked to discover she had been able to board a plane with a three-inch knife in her carry-on bag not once, but twice.

Sara Gallienne had not realised the blade was in her luggage until she got home.

But that hadn't stopped her successfully carrying it through TSA checkpoints at both Richmond and Providence, Rhode Island.

Wicker Bill Would Ensure Federal Airport Screeners Can Meet Changing Threats

From The State Column:

Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), today introduced the TSA Efficiency and Flexibility Act, S.1353, which would guarantee Transportation Security Administration (TSA) personnel could respond quickly to emerging threats. The Wicker bill prohibits TSA personnel from collective bargaining because of security concerns.

“Our security personnel need flexibility to meet the changing threats they face,” said Wicker. “The FBI, the CIA, and the Secret Service do not have collective bargaining rights for good reason. The burdensome regulations that could result from TSA collective bargaining add constraints and increase costs. At a time when states are struggling because of expensive state employee unions, allowing TSA personnel to enter into collective bargaining is the wrong policy.”

Wicker’s bill would make a previous TSA decision law, preventing more than 40,000 TSA personnel from collective bargaining. Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) introduced a similar bill in the House. The TSA Efficiency and Flexibility Act maintains whistleblower and other protections for workers.

TSA to Launch Trusted Traveler Pilot Program

From Homeland Security Today:

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will conduct a test of a trusted traveler program this fall, TSA chief John Pistole announced recently.

Qualifying travelers will have an opportunity to participate in a pilot phase of a known traveler program, which qualifies them for expedited screening processes at specific checkpoints within specific airports.

'These improvements will enable our officers to focus their efforts on higher risk areas,' Pistole said in a statement Thursday. 'Enhancing identity-based screening is another common sense step in the right direction as we continue to strengthen overall security, and improve the passenger experience whenever possible.'

TSA told to get public comment on body scanners

From the Associated Press:

The public should have had the chance to raise concerns about full body scanners before the government put them in airports around the country, a federal appeals court said Friday. But now that the machines are there, the government doesn't have to stop using them.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered the Transportation Security Administration to start soliciting comments about the machines, which show an image of a person's naked body.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based civil liberties group, tried to force the TSA to stop using the machines, arguing that they violated privacy and religious freedom laws as well as the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches.

Woman Gropes TSA Agent's Breast at Security Checkpoint

From myfoxny.com:

We hear a lot of complaints about security screeners groping airline passengers.

But now, a Colorado woman is accused of putting her hands on a TSA agent at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix.

Court records show 61-year-old Yukari Mihamae grabbed the left breast of the female agent Thursday at the Terminal 4 checkpoint.

Federal Court Rules That TSA ‘Naked Scans’ Are Constitutional

From Forbes:

Last weekend, a Tennessee woman was arrested at the Nashville airport for disorderly conduct after she refused TSA security measures for her children. The woman didn’t want her two children to have to go through a whole-body-imaging scanner. When a Transportation Security Administration officer told her the machines were safe, she said, “I still don’t want someone to see our bodies naked.”

She won’t be pleased with a ruling then out of the D.C. Circuit today. This morning, the federal court ruled that the “naked scans” of air travelers do not violate Americans’ constitutional rights. Privacy rights group EPIC had sued the Department of Homeland Security, alleging violations of innocent passengers’ Fourth Amendment right to be free of unreasonable searches. The court says that argument doesn’t fly.

Prosecutors Demand Laptop Password in Violation of Fifth Amendment

From the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged a federal court in Colorado today to block the government's attempt to force a woman to enter a password into an encrypted laptop, arguing in an amicus brief that it would violate her Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

A defendant in this case, Ramona Fricosu, is accused of fraudulent real estate transactions. During the investigation, the government seized an encrypted laptop from the home she shares with her family, and then asked the court to compel Fricosu to type the password into the computer or turn over a decrypted version of her data. But EFF told the court today that the demand is contrary to the Constitution, forcing Fricosu to become a witness against herself.

'Decrypting the data on the laptop can be, in and of itself, a testimonial act -- revealing control over a computer and the files on it,' said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. 'Ordering the defendant to enter an encryption password puts her in the situation the Fifth Amendment was designed to prevent: having to choose between incriminating herself, lying under oath, or risking contempt of court.'