There are now three motions to dismiss both the federal and state defendants in my case against the TSA’s unlawful search and seizure of me at FLL airport last year. They were filed between 1 and 3 months ago, with such absurd claims as, “We’re not law enforcement officers, but we were allowed to detain him” and “We’re allowed to read any documents he brought through the checkpoint on the off-chance that one of them will show he used a false ID.”
The judge has not yet ruled on any of these three motions, and there is no deadline for her to do so, however last week good news came as she ordered the parties to create a scheduling plan and submit other documentation that is required for the trial to proceed. It would seem unlikely for her to do such a thing if she were planning on tossing the case, and so I’m very much looking forward to reading her order denying the motions to dismiss. 🙂
Professional Troublemaker ® 
September 24, 2012 at 12:19 pm
I had a thought about all this. If the TSA are supposed to be protecting against terrorists, then that means, they should be saving lives. A previous article here estimates already there could be an extra 100 people per year getting cancer because of the scanners… how many people do they save per year from terror attacks? Zero right? So net, they are now killing people in the name of savig them
September 24, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Yes, and that doesn’t even take into account the increase in road deaths due to people avoiding flying because they don’t want to deal with the TSA. I’ve seen reasonable estimates of that loss at around 500 persons per year.
September 24, 2012 at 12:25 pm
You have more patience and trust for the legal system than I would. Perhaps because this Judge is a woman she will be more interested in pursuing a remedy for travelers who get molested for security purposes. TSA can’t show legal cause, so if they lose they’ll appeal.
November 15, 2012 at 4:31 am
Sure they can, since a person consents to a search as a condition of getting on the plane.
It’s the FIFTH amendment we need to push, regarding “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” And such searches deprive us of liberty by preventing us from travelling.
September 24, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Great news!!
September 24, 2012 at 3:02 pm
Woo hoo Jon! Awesome!
September 26, 2012 at 12:26 am
That’s great 🙂
September 29, 2012 at 4:10 pm
TSA Confiscates Camera from man Recording Checkpoint
TSA screeners confiscated a man’s camera after he began video recording a checkpoint in Puerto Rico, deleting his footage before returning his camera.
The incident has sparked a debate on Flyer Talk as to what laws would actually apply in this case.
On one hand, there are no photo or video restrictions at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints, as much as many screeners act otherwise.
But on the other hand, Puerto Rico has its own constitution and laws that might not always reflect those of the United States.
However, federal laws apply to Puerto Rico, according to Wikpedia.
Read more:
http://www.pixiq.com/article/tsa-confiscates-camera-from-man-recording-checkpoint
November 15, 2012 at 4:29 am
Puerto Rico is a territory of the sovereign United States, and and the US Constitution expressly states in Article VI that it is the Supreme Law of the Land, any thing in the laws or constitutions of any other state notwithstanding.
The problem is that these searches are ruled “voluntary and consensual” under US v. Davis, since people voluntarily choose to get on the plane.
However this presents an infringement of their 5th Amendment right to travel, as well as a contract of adhesion with the airline: i.e. air-travel is a necessity to unhindered travel whenver flying is considerably faster than other methods, and therefore any conditions placed on travel are a violation of the right to liberty and Due Process.