Topic: Department of Homeland Security
ACLU sues Transportation Security Administration over Ron Paul staffer's detention On June 18, the ACLU filed suit against the TSA over the March 29 detention of Campaign for Liberty staffer Steve Bierfeldt. by George Dance
(libertarian)
Sunday, July 19, 2009
On June 18, the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the Transportation Security Administration and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano over the TSA's March 29 detention of Steve Bierfeldt, director of development for Ron Paul's Campaign for Liberty, at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, seeks to prohibit the TSA from "conducting suspicion-less pre-flight searches of passengers or their belongings for items other than weapons or explosives." (1)
As Nolan Chart's Jake Towne reported April 7, "Bierfeldt was detained in the St. Louis Airport last week by Transportation Security Administration officials for carrying $4,700 in cash in campaign contributions." When asked about the source of the money, "Bierfeldt first attempted to ascertain whether he was legally required to answer their questions," and for that was detained, questioned for a half-hour, and threatened with arrest. However: "Unbeknownst to the TSA officials, Bierfeldt was able to tape the conversation on his iPhone." (2)
"You're in a locked room with no windows," Bierfeldt later told CNN. "You've got TSA agents. You've got police officers with loaded guns. They're in your face. A few of them were swearing at me."
On the recording, "officers can be heard saying they will involve the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration, and appear to threaten arrest, saying they are going to transport Bierfeldt to the local police station, in handcuffs if necessary." (3)
Bierfeldt later told Judge Andrew Napolitano (no relation) of FOX News that he was reluctant to identify himself as a Ron Paul staffer because of a recent Missouri Information Analysis Center report that had profiled Paul supporters as possible militia members and potential terrorists. (4)
"The most egregious aspect of his detention was the utter lack of respect of the TSA officers for Mr. Bierfeldt's rights as an American citizen under the Constitution," commented Nolan Chart's Kenn Jacobine. "They questioned him about his work, his employer, the money, and even why he was in St Louis.... Under the circumstances, and aware of his constitutional rights, Mr. Bierfeldt certainly knew that he didn't have to answer their questions. In fact, by answering many of their questions with, 'am I legally required to answer that question?' he gave them plenty of opportunity to consider whether or not he was legally required to answer their questions. Instead, they told him: 'It is not a question of the law,' 'You don't have to understand the law, just answer the question,' and 'Are you from this planet?' Their absolute disregard for guaranteeing their captive's rights was scary." (5)
Says the ACLU's Larry Shwartzol: "We think what happened to Mr. Bierfeldt is a reflection that TSA believes passenger screening is an opportunity to engage in freewheeling law enforcement investigations that have no link to flight safety." (3)
The TSA was created by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001, which nationalized airport security in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. "Prior to its creation," notes Wikipedia, "security screening was operated by private companies." It was moved to the newly-created Department of Homeland Security in November, 2002. (6)
On its website, the TSA describes itself as "50,000 security officers, inspectors, directors, air marshals and managers who protect the nation's transportation systems so you and your family can travel safely. We look for bombs at checkpoints in airports, we inspect rail cars, we patrol subways with our law enforcement partners, and we work to make all modes of transportation safe." (7)
However, critics have frequently charged the agency with acting beyond that limited mandate to promote passenger safety.
On April 1, 2007, Canadian Kate Burgess had a severe asthma attack after being accosted by TSA agents who threatened to call the police -- as an April Fool's joke. (8)
In March 2008, Mandi Hamelin of Texas was detained by TSA agents who gave her pliers and ordered her to remove her nipple rings (which had shown up on a metal detector). (9)
In June 2009, a U.S. District Court judge threw out the seizure of three fake passports from Fode Amadou Fofana, saying the TSA had violated his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure. As the Wall Street Journal reported, Amadou "didn't set off metal detectors and TSA's X-ray equipment didn't see anything suspicious, according to court testimony. The bags were swabbed for explosive residue and did not trigger any alarms. TSA agents opened the bags and searched inside [only] because he was selected for extra screening....
"According to the judge's ruling, the TSA agent involved testified that she had been instructed to search for suspicious items beyond weapons and explosives and to 'be alert for anything that might be unlawful for him to possess, such as credit cards belonging to other people, illegal drugs or counterfeit money.'...
"Judge Marbley said the TSA had no authority to open the envelopes [in which the passports were sealed]. In his ruling, he said prior cases clearly established that airport security searches should be aimed only at detecting weapons or explosives." (1)
Ben Wizner, the attorney who filed the ACLU lawsuit, sees Bierfeldt's case as a similar example of TSA "mission creep." "Whether as a matter of formal policy or widespread practice, TSA now operates on the belief that airport security screening provides a convenient opportunity to fish for evidence of criminal conduct far removed from the agency's mandate of ensuring flight safety," he wrote in the suit. (1)
The ACLU's action has won it a new respect in some right-wing circles. "Conservatives often complain that the ACLU only defends commies, perverts and terrorists," wrote the American Chronicle, "but most of the ACLU's clients are average folks like Bierfeldt. We shouldn't accept brutality at the hands of the TSA creeps as normal operating procedure in this post 9/11 world." (10)
Similarly, World Net Daily opined that, "it may be that the ACLU will become the best guarantor of individual freedoms over the years ahead." (11)
Added former U.S. federal attorney (and 2008 Libertarian Party Presidential candidate) Bob Barr in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on July 9:
"It is hoped the courts will rein in the TSA and force the agency to stick to its true mission to prevent weapons and explosives from being brought on board commercial aircraft. If TSA is in fact permitted by the courts to engage in wide-ranging searches of people based on the subjective views of its employees, then other agencies of the government will consider that a green light to do likewise; and the Fourth Amendment's guarantees will have been rendered largely meaningless.
"Of course," Barr noted, "the Congress could step in and do its job by reining in TSA legislatively to force it to limit its actions to what it was intended when the agency was established after the 9-11 attacks. However, given that body's usual hesitancy to ever limit power once given to a federal agency, such a move is unlikely." (12)
For his part, Bierfeldt says: "I hope the court makes clear that my detention by TSA agents was unconstitutional and stops TSA from engaging in these unlawful searches and arrests. I do not want another innocent American to have to endure what I went through." (13) ----------
Sources:
(1) Scott McCartney, "Has Tougher Airport Screening Gone too Far?", Wall Street Journal, Jul. 16, 2009. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204556804574261940842372518.html#mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popular
(11) Craige McMillan, "The ACLU Revisited," World Net Daily, June 24, 2009. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=102069
(12) Bob Barr, "Will Courts Rein In TSA?", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, July 9, 2009. http://blogs.ajc.com/bob-barr-blog/2009/07/08/will-courts-rein-in-tsa/?cxntfid=blogs_bob_barr_blog
The views expressed in this
article are those of George Dance only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. George Dance is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
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