Earlier this morning, Senator Rand Paul was attempting to catch a flight to Washington DC to attend a Senate session. When going through the full-body scanner, TSA officials apparently found "an anomaly" and told Senator Paul he'd have to be patted down. Senator Paul refused the pat-down, was escorted out of the security area into a small cubicle, and the situation was eventually resolved and he was allowed to catch a later flight.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57363889-503544/rand-paul-detained-by-tsa/
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky on Monday found himself in a showdown with the Transportation Security Administration in Nashville, Tennessee after refusing to undergo a full-body pat down. Paul was later re-screened and booked on a subsequent flight.
The senator went through the scanner at the airport but was told there was some sort of "anomaly" with the scan and would have to get a full-body pat down, Paul's chief of staff Doug Stafford told CBS News. Paul did not consent to this and offered another scan, but the TSA insisted on the pat down.
According to the Associated Press, Paul said he was "detained" in a small cubicle in the airport, which is about an hour from his Bowling Green, Kentucky home, and missed his flight to Washington for a Senate session.
The TSA disputed the characterization that Paul was "detained." The TSA told CBS News that Paul wasn't detained at any point, though he triggered an alarm during a routine screening and refused to complete the screening process.
The TSA is pushing back, saying Rand Paul was treated "like everybody else."
http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/tsa/205765-tsa-defends-treatment-of-sen-rand-paul
The Transportation Security Administration defended its treatment of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) at the Nashville International Airport Monday, saying the lawmaker was treated like every other passenger it processes.
The problem is that Rand Paul isn't "anybody else," he's a sitting United States Senator who was on his way to attend a Senate Session. Let me quote the relevant article of the Constitution for you... Article 1, Section 6.
(The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States.) (The preceding words in parentheses were modified by the 27th Amendment.) They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
The Constitution clearly indicates that Congressmen can't be stopped from attending a session, or when "going to and returning from the same." Senator Paul was traveling to attend a session, and the TSA stopped him from traveling. Senator Paul says he was "detained" in a small cubicle, while TSA denies that characterization. Folks, if TSA escorted me away and stuck me in a cubicle, I would conclude (as would any reasonable person) that I was being detained. While the Constitution specifically says "arrest," with today's "indefinite detention" powers that were unheard of in the Founders' age, I'm reasonably sure SCOTUS would rule that any detention is also banned.
So we have a potential Constitutional crisis brewing here... It all depends on how much Senator Paul wants to make of it.
Personally, I hope Rand Paul pushes this as hard as he possibly can. Because TSA would eventually have to agree to treat Congressmen differently than everybody else, and that could well ignite a firestorm of protest against the invasive screening procedures.
This situation is incredibly recent, so let's see what happens over the next couple of days.
The understanding everyone has...is that if you go ahead and do the full-body scanner, and have a minor issue pop up, then you get the wand device on the affected area. In this case, the TSA guys said no on the wand device, and then said a full-body 'pat-down' was necessary. There is a disconnect here between what TSA says in Washington as their standard policy, and what Jimmy-Joe the wannabe cop/TSA guy does at his site. This is something that folks have been pointing out for several years.
ReplyDeleteI imagine that Senator Paul will ask the TSA chief to explain policy yet again, and they will flip to this new version. It's just another reason why you need to give give up on flying and just drive to your destination...even if it is a eleven-hour drive.
"Liberty" is a 7 letter word that can be stolen one letter at a time until liberty no longer exists.
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