UPDATE: DC Court of Appeals Rules TSA Violated Law By Introducing Body Scanners - Judge Douglas Ginsburg found there was “no justification for having failed to conduct a notice-and-comment rulemaking,” and said, “few if any regulatory procedures impose directly and significantly upon so many members of the public.” The court said that the roll out of body scanners could not be “merely interpretive, procedural, or a general statement of policy.” The TSA, currently operating close to 500 scanners in 78 airports and planning to add 500 more scanners by the end of 2011, must now receive comment on it’s continued deployment of the technology and respond accordingly by law, finally giving critics an official voice on the issue. The case was brought by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), which argued in its brief that body scanners are “invasive, unlawful, and ineffective,” and that the TSA’s deployment of the devices violated the U.S. Constitution and several other federal statutes. The rights group is pursuing a case to completely suspend use of the scanners in airports.
UPDATE: Woman Arrested for Groping TSA Agent's Breast at Security Checkpoint - We hear a lot of complaints about security screeners groping airline passengers. But now, a Colorado woman is accused of putting her hands on a TSA agent at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. Court records show 61-year-old Yukari Mihamae grabbed the left breast of the female agent Thursday at the Terminal 4 checkpoint. Police say she squeezed and twisted the agent's breast with both hands. Officers say Mihamae admitted to the crime. There's no word why she touched the agent. Mihamae now faces a felony count of sexual abuse. According to court records, she lives in Longmont, Colorado and is self-employed. GOOGLE EQUAL PROTECTION DEFENSE
Mom Arrested After Refusing TSA Molestation of Daughter
Andrea Fornella Abbott of Clarksville, Tennessee, was arrested by Nashville airport authorities after she refused to let the TSA fondle her daughter.
Abbott said she did not want her daughter to be “touched inappropriately” or have her “crotch grabbed,” according to a police report.
Her outrage at the “security procedure” landed her in jail. She was charged with disorderly conduct and released on bond, according to The Tennessean.
“(She) told me in a very stern voice with quite a bit of attitude that they were not going through that X-ray,” Sabrina Birge, an airport security officer, told police.
Abbott was told by the woman that naked body porno scanners are “10,000 times safer than your cell phone and uses the same type of radio waves as a sonogram.”
Earlier this month, it was revealed that the TSA, under the guidance of the Department of Homeland Security Secretary, deliberately misled the public on the health risks associated with the naked body scanners.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center published documents released under a Freedom of Information Act request that show the TSA has been caught covering up a growing number of cases of cancer among TSA airport body scanner operators who conduct the screenings in close proximity to the radiation-emitting devices.
Despite the baseless assurance that the device is safe, Abbott told Birge she did not want her daughter’s naked body revealed by the scanner.
She attempted to take cell phone video of the incident but was prevented from doing so.
In April, the TSA defended its serial molestation procedures after a video surfaced showing agents fondling a six year old girl at the New Orleans airport.
The TSA has admitted that fondling children is government policy.
“Some folks are asking if the proper procedures were followed. Yes. TSA has reviewed the incident and the security officer in the video followed the current standard operating procedures,” a TSA spokesman explained on the agency’s official blog.
American Traveler Dignity Act of 2011 by Congressman Ron Paul MD for president