ACLU questions 'enhanced patdown' of air travelers

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

ACLU questions 'enhanced patdown' of air travelers
© 2010 The Associated Press
Aug. 21, 2010, 9:04PM

BOSTON — The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts is questioning the propriety of stepped-up security checkpoint procedures at airports in Boston and Las Vegas.

The Boston Herald reports that Transportation Security Administration screeners at Logan International Airport are testing what one official called an "enhanced patdown." It lets screeners use a palms-forward, slide-down search procedure on passengers' bodies.

It replaces the old back-of-the-hand patdown for passengers who don't want to go through full-body scanning machines.

The TSA says the new procedure is also being tested at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas before a national rollout.

The ACLU questions whether the new technique is effective enough to justify what it calls a "seemingly constant erosion of privacy."


Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/travel/news/7164896.html

[truthisfreedom]

1. Jesus. WIthin our lifetimes we've gone completely big brother.

It's amazing and bizarre. And people just deal with it as they erode and erode our privacy. Like sheep.

It's the old frog in the boiling pot of water trick... if you drop it in boiling water it will leap out. If you slowly raise the temperature with the frog in the pot, it will sit there and boil.

[BillH76]

27. Not completely. There's more.

[mike r]

2. Is TSA trying to win the #1 place to work for molesters & perverts?

Unbelievable.

[BillH76]

28. C'mon. They just want to cop a feel now and then.

[MurrayDelph]

3. This is part of why I drive when I have to travel

between Los Angeles and Portland.

[AndyTiedye]

36. You Could also take the Amtrak Coast Starlight

LA to Portland on the Coast Starlight is a beautiful train ride.
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/AM_Route_C/1241245648567/1237405732511

[awoke_in_2003]

4. "enhanced patdown."

Oh, do we get a happy ending now? I do not travel anywhere anymore that I can't drive to. When it is no longer possible to drive, I will put a .45 in my mouth.

[Radical Activist]

5. I gave an enhanced patdown to my girlfriend last night.

:pals:

[rug]

15. I hope it included a cavity search.

[Downwinder]

6. Gee, I might go back to flying, with a little sexual stimulation at each stop.

Are these Politically Correct pat downs. Do you get to choose same or opposite sex?

On edit: I want to see which line some of our Pols. choose.

[DeSwiss]

7. K&R

[Anakin Skywalker]

8. They Should Hire Porn Stars for This Job!

Yeah. I'll let them pat me down. "Take all the time you want, ladies! All of a sudden, I'm no longer in a hurry like the typical airline passenger!" ;)

[Downwinder]

9. If I ever wished I was a cartoonist, it is now. Think of all of the cartoon

possibilities here. You could make a full issue of "MAD" out of it.

First you have the design of the facility, at least four cubicles and lines with signage. Then you have the friskers, at least one (apologies to Al Capp) Daisey Mae type balanced with a boytoy. Also you have the populated lines themselves, who is that wide stance standing there.

[LostinVA]

12. This wouldn't bother me as much if they WERE porn stars

Because, at leats then I'd know they were professionals and it was just a job for them, not some sick kick. I'm serious.

Talk about luring sexual predators to a job...

[dipsydoodle]

10. Will the airlines charge more for this ?

:)

[Solly Mack]

11. k/r

[midnight]

13. Are we going to allow the patriot act to continue to

override our Constitution?

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. Oh yeah, like it was any better when the airport security woman

lifted my breasts with the flat of her clasped fingers, palms away.

[BillH76]

29. Now she'll have enhanced fun.

[lib2DaBone]

16. Someone needs to stop the TSA Goon Squad...

They stole cash from the side pocket of my carry-on. I know they did.. but I can't prove it.

And if you make a stink.. you will end up locked away in that clear plastic room or strip searched for hours on end.

[2Design]

17. being violated and raped in order to fly - that is the feelings this promotes n/t

[BillH76]

34. They want to humiliate us, to get us used to fascism.

You could call it "creeping fascism" or "creepy fascism." It's a milder version of the sexual humiliation at Abu Ghraib. The purpose? To break the subject down and get him to obey.

[Turbineguy]

18. The ACLU doesn't understand.

It's all part of a cunning plan. The idea is to get Osama bin Laden to die from apoplexy while laughing at us.

[Lost4words]

19. LOL!

[truth2power]

20. I imagine Darth Cheney is laughing, too. n/t

[DWinNJ]

21. Worse than you think

My mother is not the best source of details when it comes to technology. However, she described to me what she went through on her Friday flight from Ft Lauderdale/Hollywood airport in FL.
It sounds to me she went through a full-body scanning machine AND an enhanced patdown

[DWinNJ]

22. About those full-body scanning machines

The manufacturers say there is a recording function which is
ONLY for training and testing purposes and are delivered with the function set off.

I worked in technology and from my experience
**If a machine has a function, it will be turned on and used**

[Heywood J]

23. Yet another reason why I don't fly anymore.

If I ever have to fly again, it will be via Toronto.

[Gormy Cuss]

24. "Enhanced patdown" seems a lot more like groping and that's the point.

The patdown needs to be more icky than the thought of an electronic strip search. Why? Probably because now that they've rolled out more scanners passenger opposition is increasing and the TSA's glowing reports of acceptance based on the test sites is just not holding up anymore.

[Liberal_in_LA]

25. good point n/t

[suffragette]

26. Yep, this looks like more "persuasion" to go through the scanner

so they can then say most people are fine with the body scanners.

[BillH76]

31. How about a patdown AND a nude scan? Feelie-porn!

Apologies to Aldous Huxley.

[wordpix]

30. i was just patted down- I'm older, small, grey hair, US citizen, was traveling w/American family

consisting of 2 teenagers and sister-in-law. Did not look like a terrorist group or individual in any way (although I realize a "terrorist" can look like any nationality). Still, this kind of pat down is a ridiculous waste of time and resources and it was humiliating for me. I don't have a terrorist bone in my body, much less a weapon, grew up in the US and never lived elsewhere---besides, I had just passed an FBI clearance for a job---why are people like me patted down?

[BillH76]

32. Perfect terrorist disguise! The teenagers are a nice twist, too! :)

[NJCher]

35. at random?

I am on a trip now and while waiting in line at the airport (Newark), I was watching how the transportation guy looked at the line. It appeared he was counting out who would get searched more in depth. Just a guess--I could be completely wrong.

Knowing a bit about random sampling, this would be my guess as to how they choose who to examine more carefully.

I barely escaped the full body scanner. They are supposed to come into Newark this month but they weren't installed when I was there last Tues.

I think this will be my last airline trip. It doesn't mean enough for me to go anywhere if this is what I'd have to go through.

Cher

[tblue37]

37. I think I took my last flights this summer, too. nt

[PfcHammer]

33. I'm willing to pay extra for stepped-up security checkpoint procedures

in my groin region. That way I'll be pumped up and ready for my close-up on the full-body scanner.

Holy shit what a load of crap all this is.

:rofl:

[Nihil]

39. *cough*

[Manifestor_of_Light]

40. Giggity.

Hey is that you, Quagmire???

:rofl:

[Yeahyeah]

38. No happy ending?