Resistance is hopefully not futile …
Posted: December 24, 2010 Filed under: Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Human Rights | Tags: TSA enhanced patdown procedures 25 CommentsAn Austin woman may be the first test of does-no-mean-no when it comes to the TSA. A 56 year old rape survivor 
with a pacemaker refused to have her breasts touched after a computer glitch shut down a security checkpoint for a few hours at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas. The TSA arrested the woman for refusing ‘enhanced security’ measures.
Isn’t the word enhanced such the latest in Orwellian newspeak (e.g enhanced security measures, enhanced interrogative techniques)? I’m beginning to think we should consider anything with the word ‘enhanced’ near it to probably be a signal that our constitutional rights are about to be violated. Here’s some of the details from local Austin TV station KVUE. There’s a video interview of the woman there.
Claire Hirschkind, 56, who says she is a rape victim and who has a pacemaker-type device implanted in her chest, says her constitutional rights were violated. She says she never broke any laws. But the Transportation Security Administration disagrees.
Hirschkind was hoping to spend Christmas with friends in California, but she never made it past the security checkpoint.
“I can’t go through because I have the equivalent of a pacemaker in me,” she said.
Hirschkind said because of the device in her body, she was led to a female TSA employee and three Austin police officers. She says she was told she was going to be patted down.
“I turned to the police officer and said, ‘I have given no due cause to give up my constitutional rights. You can wand me,'” and they said, ‘No, you have to do this,'” she said.
Hirschkind agreed to the pat down, but on one condition.
“I told them, ‘No, I’m not going to have my breasts felt,’ and she said, ‘Yes, you are,'” said Hirschkind.
When Hirschkind refused, she says that “the police actually pushed me to the floor, (and) handcuffed me. I was crying by then. They drug me 25 yards across the floor in front of the whole security.”
An ABIA spokesman says it is TSA policy that anyone activating a security alarm has two options. One is to opt out and not fly, and the other option is to subject themselves to an enhanced pat down. Hirschkind refused both and was arrested.
I’m supposed to be in Denver for a AEA meeting. I really need to be there, but I just will not subject myself to these intrusive policies and I think any one that does is just asking to lose more of their civil liberties. I’m opting out of commercial air travel. I’ll drive from here on out until this abomination of a policy goes. Who says you check your civil liberties at the door when you opt to use a commercial service? Again, what’s next? City Buses? Class rooms? Voting boothes?
I’m with Claire. No means no. Unless they can show a judge’s order, I’m calling it unreasonable search and seizure.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, 4th Amendment
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I”m with you Dak, got a start jump, and did not fly for thanksgiving. We are in deep schitt in this country.
I watch people in the arm port quietly putting up with it and I just Godwin. I go straight to visions of cattle cars to death camps. I can’t help it.
That is one disturbing story!
I think all our Congress critters should have to experience the “enhanced” pat down. Let’s see how much they like it.
I’d much rather drive anyway. I drive everywhere, and I will never fly again under these conditions.
I know I just hope they don’t start doing this on cruise ships. When I still had spare money, I used to book last minute weekend cruises from here and enjoy food and pool and a view of the gulf and one stop in mexico; usually Cancun or Cozumel. First, they made me get a passport which was bad enough. If I have to go through this treatment, they’ll take away my last cheap thrill.
I hated flying before this. Last few times I was in airport corrals — I mean lines — I would occasionally moo or baa just for the ironic fun of it. Why was everyone so stupified in their lines?
I have a few medically necessary reasons for not wanting any more radiation, thank you very much, and for not wanting to be palpated. Those techniques are not keeping us any safer; just keeping Rapiscan in profits.
If enough of us refuse to be herd animals, we could change this.
Now where can I get a T-shirt with the 4th Amendment in really big type?
You can get ones that are embedded with metallic ink that glow the words during the scans even!!
I think I know why they are stupified. It’s the only way to get through it.
I go into this ‘traveling’ mode where I just turn off and tune out. I feel like a zombie. It’s the only way to keep sanity (and keep myself out of jail) when I’m standing in lines forever, having to submit to stupid orders (this was before the pornoscans and so on), submit to delay after delay, submit to mind numbing stupid pointless authority on the plane… well you get the idea.
Now that the new ‘enhanced’ procedures are here, I won’t be travelling by air again until our 4th amendment rights are recognized and respected. I don’t mind one of the scanners that the Europeans are using, but not this horrible thing. No way.
Another alternative to the RapiPornScan and you can even keep your shoes on:
http://www.seattlemet.com/travel-and-outdoors/articles/emit-technologies-people-portal-full-body-scanner-0111/
The better scanners are only better if you think the scanning is about security. But the security is about profits for Chertoff/Rapiscan and they don’t make the good scanners.
My thoughts exactly!
Why do we always get stuck paying for the WORST American inventions on the planet?
I would say to check Amtrak, but I did it for you. It seems to go west to Denver you must first go north to Chicago. 🙄 I haven’t figured that out yet except to say that we have piss-poor train service. You would think you could take the Sunset Ltd to some point in Texas or New Mexico and change to a train going to Denver. Nah. It would make too much sense.
I once rode an Amtrak train in California. The entire train had, at most, ten people on board, and it took an hour to go twenty miles.
Good chance for reading and cocktails.
Must have been cows on the track. But wasn’t the scenery lovely?
It was that part of the bay area with mudflats and marshes.
The last time my daughter took the greyhound she learned a lot about crack addiction so that’s off my list too.
I’d have to rent a car. I’m not sure the old’ mustang would make it through the snow at this point. But, I’m not very flush with funds, so I’ll probably just be there in spirit and wait until the proceedings show up in the journal. Would really like to corner a few people there, however, and bug Brad deLong in his Seminar.
When my cousin was
attendingflunking out of SLU, many, many years ago, I would take the train up to Hammond to visit her and her boyfriend. It was a lovely trip going out through Pass Manchac to Hammond.I used to drive from Hammond home to new orleans with the Amtrak coming my way. I like trains. I’d love to do the orient express one day.
I love trains too. I used them extensively when I lived in Britain and traveled around Europe on them. I also used the local trains in Philly when I lived there.
I miss trains. I wish we had a better network and the equivalent of a BritRail pass for visitors.
Would love to take the classic Orient Express trip, Paris-Budapest-Bucharest-Istanbul, for the sheer luxury of it.
I love traveling by train and was stunned to discover the difference between US and European rail service. When I was 30 I took a one-way flight to London with no plan, just a need to … well I guess in hindsight I’d say I was having a nervous breakdown but I’m not a hospital kind of fella … and loved the trains so much I kept buying 1st class Eurailpasses rather than bothering with cars most the time. Stayed more than a year, covered the continent from the Arctic Circle to Crete (and got healthy) by train and boat (ferries are covered by Eurailpass, or were back then anyway).
Difference is huge and it’s because in the US train transport is based on freight and in Europe it’s based in passenger service.
Yep, I really, really miss that kind of train service. We used to do passenger, but it died out with the big push to cars, and when the rubber and oil companies bought up the local trains and trolleys transport systems.
Even out here in the relative boonies, if I could figure out a way, I’d take public transport everywhere. But there’s no way.