THE TSA 's VIOLATION OF RIGHTS!!!!

WoW!!

I'm at a loss for words. What has our country come to??

The TSA,Transportation Security Association, has implemented a new security measure in airports across this nation. Over 150 "full body scanners" have been installed and 450 more are on the way.So here is what I did. I went and researched this thing thoroughly for 1 and a half hours. I went to news sites, Liberal and Conservative, you tube(found very good videos), I went and just Googled it, and read stories and reports and opinions. And I decided to put several of these reports on here, from websites like Fox News, CNN, and Politico(with links to the stories). And at the end link to a few other stories as well.

First, I put on here the 4th amendment of our Bill of Rights. Keep it in mind as you read.

"Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html

Now here are the stores, form your own opinion.

LA TIMES

"If you plan to travel by air during the upcoming holiday season be ready to undergo a new, more thorough pat-down search procedure at the airport.

The new search technique used by the Transportation Security Administration allows airport security screeners to use their fingers and palms to feel and probe for hidden weapons and devices around sensitive body parts, such as the breast and groin areas.

In the past, TSA officers brushed along those body parts with the back of their hands to feel for hidden objects.

The TSA tested the more assertive pat-down technique this summer at airports in Boston and Las Vegas and has expanded the use of the procedure this weekend to airports nationwide.

"TSA is in the process of implementing new pat-down procedures at checkpoints nationwide as one of our many layers of security to keep the traveling public safe," the TSA said in a recent statement.

The manual pat-down procedure will be used on passengers who refuse to be screened using the 317 new full-body image scanners deployed at 65 airports nationwide. The new technique may also be used on passengers who evoke suspicion when undergoing other traditional screening procedures, including walk-through metal detectors.

The ACLU has complained about the full-body scanners and the new pat-down procedure, saying both violate the privacy of airline passengers.

The full-body scanners use low levels of either radiation or X-rays to create what looks like a nude image of the passengers to find weapons hidden under the clothes.

"Americans now must choose between a virtual strip search and a grope," said Chris Calabrese, a legislative counsel at the ACLU."

--Hugo Martin

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2010/11/new-thorough-pat-down-procedure-expands-nationwide.html


Politico

The uproar over new TSA screening procedures expanded from airport checkpoints to Capitol Hill on Monday, as the Democratic and Republican House caucuses convened a rare House-wide staff briefing on the new procedures this morning in the Capitol basement, I report in a piece

tonight:.

The briefing came as a new Washington Post poll shows that half the American public opposes the controversial enhanced pat-downs, the paper reported Monday. The poll also showed that almost two-thirds of Americans — down from 80 percent earlier this month according to another poll the administration has widely cited to defend the policy — support the use of digital scanning machines at airports.

The enhanced pat-downs that have sparked passenger complaints are used as secondary screening as part of a new TSA policy that went into place earlier this month. ...

[A House staffer who attended the briefing] said that several House staffers were so uncomfortable they averted their eyes when the TSA demonstrated an enhanced pat-down in the room of 200 people.

“The dumbest part: They did two pat-down demonstrations — male on male, and female on female,” the House staffer said. And they used a young female TSA volunteer “and in front of a room of 200 people, they touched her breasts and her buttocks. People were averting their eyes. The TSA was trying to demonstrate ‘this is not so bad,’ but it made people so uncomfortable to watch that people were averting their eyes.”

“They shot themselves in the foot,” the staffer continued.

Obama administration and TSA officials have been trying to downplay public horror stories that have exploded on the Internet and in the media in the past few days at the controversial screening procedures, suggesting that some of them are exaggerated or even fabricated. ...

But TSA officials have not explained why an ABC News producer reports that a TSA officer put her hands inside her underwear and touched her extensively at Newark Airport on Sunday in an experience the producer called demeaning and inappropriate.

"The woman who checked me reached her hands inside my underwear and felt her way around," ABC producer Carolyn Durand told ABC. "It was basically worse than going to the gynecologist. It was embarrassing. It was demeaning. It was inappropriate."

TSA Administrator John Pistole told ABC that that incident should not have happened. ..."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurarozen/1110/House_staffer_on_TSA_patdown_demo_They_shot_themselves_in_the_foot_.html?showall

CNN

"Airline passengers can expect to see as well as feel new pat-down procedures at U.S. airports over the coming weeks in an effort to provide another layer of security for travelers, the Transportation Security Administration said Thursday.

"Pat-downs are one important tool to help TSA detect hidden and dangerous items such as explosives," according to a TSA statement sent to CNN.

The TSA said passengers should continue to expect "an unpredictable mix of security layers that include explosives trace detection, advanced imaging technology, canine teams, among others."

But it's the hands-on procedures that have at least one traveler concerned that the TSA may be going too far.

Rosemary Fitzpatrick, a CNN employee, said she was subjected to a pat-down at the Orlando, Florida, airport on Wednesday night after her underwire bra set off a magnetometer. She said she was taken to a private area and searched, with transportation screening officers telling her the pat-down was a new procedure.

According to Fitzpatrick, a female screener ran her hands around her breasts, over her stomach, buttocks and her inner thighs, and briefly touched her crotch.

"I felt helpless, I felt violated, and I felt humiliated," Fitzpatrick said, adding that she was reduced to tears at the checkpoint. She particularly objected to the fact that travelers were not warned about the new procedures.

Fitzpatrick sent an e-mail complaint about her experience to the TSA that said the agency needs to get the word out so that travelers know their rights.

The TSA employees "conducted themselves in a professional manner, so my complaint is not about them professionally," Fitzpatrick wrote.

She told the TSA the agency needs to get the word out so the travelers know their rights.

"I am appalled and disgusted at the new search procedures and the fact that passengers have not been made aware of the new invasive steps prior to entering the security area," Fitzpatrick wrote. "It appears once you enter the security area, passengers forfeit their rights. There were no signs, video information, etc. at the entrance of the security area the airport. Why?"

She added: "As an experienced traveler for work who was in tears for most of the search process, I have never experienced a more traumatic and invasive travel event!"

The TSA sent an automated initial e-mail response to Fitzpatrick saying, "Thank you for your inquiry to the Transportation Security Administration. We have forwarded your e-mail to the appropriate group for response."

In its statement to CNN, the TSA said: "Pat-down procedures are used to resolve alarms that occur at a walk-through metal detector, if an anomaly is detected during screening with advanced imaging technology or during random screening."

The statement also indicated that "passengers who opt out of advanced imaging technology screening will receive alternate screening to include a thorough pat-down.""

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-28/travel/airline.security.pat.down_1_pat-down-tsa-statement-random-screening?_s=PM:TRAVEL

Here is a link to the foxnews story.They won't let me put it on here.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/31/calls-body-scanners-ignite-privacy-concerns/

So, what do you think?

Here some other links:

http://www.elliott.org/blog/tsa-threatens-to-fine-passenger-who-refuses-full-body-scan/

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/22/lawmakers-seek-probe-tsas-pat-training-reported-misbehavior/

http://www.elliott.org/blog/tsa-threatens-to-fine-passenger-who-refuses-full-body-scan/