Bob Barr in his blog at the Atlanta Journal Constitution gives us some thoughts on the judicial review of the Transportation Security Administration’s self-directed expansion of its authority beyond airport security into the field of law enforcement.
Will Courts Rein In TSA?
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has become increasingly aggressive in expanding its responsibility from simply searching passengers to ensure no weapons or explosives are brought on board commercial aircraft. The agency, housed in the federal Department of Homeland Security, has moved in recent years to assume for itself the role of “behavioral cops,” by training and allowing its employees to spot “suspicious behavior” on the part of passengers and then subjecting those so tagged to additional scrutiny and questioning.
In some instances of such “behavioral searches,” in which the government then finds contraband on the persons thus singled out for searches, or outstanding warrants for matters completely unrelated to aircraft or airport security, people are arrested and prosecuted. (cont. )
It is a pet peeve of mine that people who have very little if any training in actual law enforcement are being allowed, and actually encouraged in some cases, to take on roles normally associated with the police. I’m not a huge fan of being searched for weapons although I have given no probable cause for a search, but if I want to fly I have to consent. I would feel better about it if the airlines ran their own security. As a private enterprise they could have a “no weapons” policy and if I didn’t like I perhaps I could find an airline that didn’t assume I was a criminal.
Unfortunately, in the name (only) of increased safety and security, we have allowed the federal government to restrict an entire mode of domestic transportation. The way things are going this could well be expanded to all modes of public transportation, perhaps to eventually include personal vehicles. Think that is crazy talk? Consider DUI checkpoints. At one your car is stopped, inspected and if some violation is observed -not limited to alcohol- you will be cited or arrested, even if the violation would not have been in plain view had you not been stopped for the checkpoint. Speaking of not stopping, avoiding a checkpoint can be grounds to detain you.
I personally witness staggering lapses in even the security that is in place, so we get all the restrictions and very little actual increase in security.
