Right to bare? TSA screeners face lawsuit
-
Tobey reveals the words of the Fourth Amendment on his chest during a December visit to the Richmond International Airport.Henrico Police Department photo
Aaron Tobey, the 21-year-old Charlottesville native who made headlines last December when he was arrested after stripping down to his shorts at the Richmond International Airport while going through security, revealing the words of the Fourth Amendment written on his bare chest to protest controversial new TSA strip search procedures, will get his day in court.
Tobey filed a lawsuit in March, with the help of the Rutherford Institute, against Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, the head of the TSA, and the Richmond Airport, alledging that TSA agents and airport police denied his Constitutional rights under the First and Fourth Amendments.
On Tuesday, August 30, U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson dismissed the lawsuit's claim that the TSA itself violated the Fourth Amendment's protections against unreasonable search and seizure, but Hudson let stand the claims of false imprisonment and malicious prosecution against two TSA officers, the AP reports.
"Aaron Tobey was arrested for exercising his right to free speech, which is clearly protected under the First Amendment," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, in a statement. "Tobey was also unduly seized by government agents in violation of the Fourth Amendment, despite the fact that he did nothing to disrupt airport routine."
The case has been set for trial on January 18, 2012.
12 comments
Good! I hope the rest of it gets dismissed too! This little punk didn't have ANY of his rights violated, in fact he got EXACTLY what he wanted. He spent all night doing the best he could to write the Fourth Amendment on his chest, which means he fully expected to make a spectacle of himself with it. He was never planning on keeping his clothes on, he was never planning on quickly getting through security. He was planning on being a problem. and by even entertaining this joke of a case at all, he weakens the perceptions the public may have of people who actually ARE treated unequally and singled out for no reason. Dismiss the whole stupid case! It's crap like this that makes our plane tickets more expensive.
Good - the TSA needs to be held responsible for harassing CITIZENS everyday and they ARE breaking the 4th amendment. Even the new less offensive, but NOT less *invasive* (as they say) scanners still violate it.
This unamerican agency needs to go away - permanently.
The TSA IS violating the 4th amendment every time they paw at us, irradiate us and poke around in our wallets. It's disgraceful that the judicial branch is letting them get away with it.
False imprisonment and malicious prosecution are common crimes committed by the TSA. I'm glad these two thugs are going to face a bit of their own medicine. Maybe the rest of the the TSA thugs will behave themselves if there are real consequences for these crimes.
I wonder how a federal judge is going to repond next time I fly with my family and I punch the TSA idiot in the face when she touches my young daughter. I have to defend her against ASSAULT. Then I sue the cops who will arrest me as THEY stood by and allowed FEDERAL employees ASSAULT her so I can sue them each and the city and the police department and the airport. Im all for safety, but when they allow pilots and stews to not go thru the SAME security checkpoints as everyone else, and when they force grannies to strip down to their dialpers or pull out there breasts or laugh as they make a person with a bladder bag pee his pants and dont give him time to change and let the very muzzies they designed this socialist bs for to walk right on thru, then it's ON! I swear I will demand to see a SIGNED WARRANT WITH MY NAME ON IT AND PLACES AND THINGS TO BE SEIZED while in my trial. People need to STOP COMPLAINING and TAKE ACTION. The more of us that do it the more they will get the point.
The 70-plus-word lead sure could have benefited from an good editor. Same goes for the 2nd paragraph.
Some idiot kid goes to the airport with a premeditated intention of public indecent exposure and we are supposed to "defend his first amendment rights." Try actually reading the amendments rather than just rote memorization of the title. Free speech does not give you the right to walk around pantless with "the end is near" written across your butt.
Roe vs Wade is a law of our land which was premeditated upon lies. It raised the point. All are thankful for the vacuum cleaner at Planned Parenthood.
This 21 year old man has done more than any computer jockey on the forum to bring awareness to this particular problem. I have not yet been searched by these thugs and have no idea how I will react to them when they do.
Frankie, you don't know what "premeditated" even means, do you? American Patriot, I'll be tickled to read the article about you being sentenced to six months (mandatory minimum) for assaulting an officer when it happens! Elizabeth and Dave, you clearly haven't studied the Fourth Amendment and the caselaw that has fleshed it out over the years. No one is FORCING YOU to go to the airport. You are CHOOSING to go to a private business. If you don't consent to their searches, you LEAVE the airport. It's as simple as that. The Fourth Amendment is never EVEN IMPLICATED because you are COMPLETELY free not to use their airlines or be searched at all. You can drive instead, or get a pilot's license and fly yourself, or find a private contractor pilot who is willing to fly you without patting you down. If you actually bothered to read a case about a fourth amendment search, you would see that it pertains to searches of your stuff when you are not around to prevent the search, or searches of your person when you are essentially in custody (i.e., NOT free to turn around and simply LEAVE...like this little brat could have at ANY time before he stepped up for his search).
@random citizen. American Patriot, I'll be tickled to read the article about you being sentenced to six months (mandatory minimum) for assaulting an officer when it happens! See the problem here is that TSA workers are not 'officers, they are nothing more than 'employees' of a rogue federal agency. The SAME agency that refuses to allow people to work in some professions until they PURCHASE (just like healthcare) a "Permission to Work" REAL ID and declare to the very same TSA you are not a terrorist, mental case, or rico act felon (I kid you not, google TWIC), TSA employees are basically nothing more than federal security guards ALLOWED to operate on 'private' property with the property owners 'consent'. They are not cops, and have NO authority to FORCE you to SUBMIT to ANY 'body' searches other than 'requesting' you to do the usual x-ray for your bags and metal detector searches. Metal detectors and passing your belongings thru the x-ray machine is fine, additional metal detector scans if it goes off is ok, but when they physically 'touch' you in ANY manner while not informing you of any crime or what they are searching FOR, then it is assault, and you have the most absolute RIGHT to defend yourself, or family against assault(s). The reason the TSA does this is due the alleged theory that the so called 19 hijackers (whom the government somehow magically knows every single one of them and exactly who did it out of all the passesngers) 'SMUGGLED' as they say 'boxcutters' onto the planes WITH them. I used to fly a lot out of Logan and other major airports all the time before 9/11 and security was good, it wasnt lax like the news had made it out to be, They had metal detectors and x-ray machines for bags etc..., and common sense tells anyone who has ever flown that IF 'boxcutters' were used, they would have had to be planted ahead of time and already on board. After all the x-ray machines would have seen any boxcutters in any bag, and the 'METAL' detector would most have certainly detected the steel blade of the boxcutters setting off the metal detectors for additional metal detecting. There's nothing wrong with the way that kid utilized his first amendment, after all the TSA didnt have a signed warrant with HIS name upon it ans items to be siezed along with places to be searched. I also used to carry a folding pocket buck knife in it's side belt holster, the airlines used to allow customers to take them on board as long as the 'Blade' wasn't more than 6 inches in lengh and they actually had a ruler on the table to measure it to verify it's length (box cutters then as now were not allowed to be taken aboard). I also used to fly alot overseas before 9/11, and certain countries like the Phillippines as far back as 1991 was doing the current TSA style patdowns due the Abu Sayaff terrorist cells there, and Korea and China (under British Rule in the 90's) who had the walk thru x-ray scanners just like that one Arnold Swartznegger movie. They was testing this current style TSA non sense since the early 90's overseas, and in those certain foreign countries mentioned, you did as they told you period, or you didnt come home. After 9/11 and all it's propaganda, they brought it here via the Patriot Act and created the TSA to be the agency to do it.
I was only disappointed that the judge dismissed the portion of the suit against Napolatino and
Pistole. All the elements of "false imprisonment" and even kidnapping appear to be present in this incident. Sounds like thie local cops were at least smart enough to let TSA make a citizens arrest which would relieve them of liability. I am retired police but I speak only for myself, but I'm behind what this young man did 100%. Hope he busts it off in the TSAs ass. Like they say in New Hampshire, "Live Free or Die".
I was only disappointed that the judge dismissed the portion of the suit against Napolatino and
Pistole. All the elements of "false imprisonment" and even kidnapping appear to be present in this incident. Sounds like thie local cops were at least smart enough to let TSA make a citizens arrest which would relieve them of liability. I am retired police and I speak only for myself. I'm behind what this young man did 100%. Hope he busts it off in the TSAs ass. Like they say in New Hampshire, "Live Free or Die".
A Friend, you are no friend of the United States or Constitution. There is no policy against disrobing. His rights of freedom of speech were violated.