It seems that once they get out of office, some politicians have a change of heart. No longer surrounded by the pressures of running the show, they can make better judgments. Take, for example, former TSA Administrator Kip Hawley, who writes the following:

TSA needs to make these changes right now to take on the root causes of its public and security issues. It needs to clean up the mind numbing, overly complicated checkpoint “standard operating procedure,” which no longer matches our security needs and allow officers to act. What needs to be changed:

• The intrusive pat-down needs to be discontinued in favor of a lighter technique supplemented with available technologies.

• The “prohibited items” list needs to be radically reduced to ban only real security threats such as explosives and toxins. As far as carrying knives, the FAA should make it a serious federal offense to intimidate a member of the flight crew or another passenger with a blade — and then TSA can remove blades from the prohibited list. Blades represent virtually no threat to the aircraft at this point. And the baggie rule should be dropped. Current technology allows threat liquids to be detected when they are taken out of the carry-on and scanned in a bin.
…

Well, isn’t that something. Mr. Hawley, if you’d like change, I invite you to assist with my lawsuit against the scanners and the groping by filing an affidavit stating that in your professional opinion, the pat-downs are intrusive and unnecessary. Your work as TSA administrator set the stage for the assholery we see now, and here is a real chance to fix it.

The TSA has to date published 5,472 comments on its proposed rule allowing it to “legally” (at least as far as the Administrative Procedures Act, still not so much as far as the Constitution) use body scanners, now approaching 3 years after they started. Analyzing a random sample of 100 comments, I posted last month that 97 of them were opposed to the scanners. This would extrapolate to 5,308 comments opposing the scanners and 164 in favor.

Some people took the occasion to really give the TSA a piece of their mind. Here are my top 5:

• 5. Kiefer from Saskatchewan writes succinctly: “fuck you”
• 4. Nina from California adds: “These screenings are a gross invasion of privacy, executed by assholes with god complexes and little education. I am disgusted! They don’t improve security and they unduly harass airline passengers. Do away with it!”
• 3. Bobby, location not given, asks: “TSA. Name one real terrorist threat that has been stopped by your body scanning efforts. You can’t, but even if you could, it would not justify treating all people who fly like criminals. Fuck this rule and fuck the TSA as it now stands.”
• 2. Robert from Oregon politely notes: “Attention, To whom it may concern within the Federal government. Shove these scanners up your collectivist asses. P.S. Read the ‘Bill of Rights’ you twats.”
• 1. Fabian from California argues persuasively: “THIS IS A PILE OF SHIT GOVERNMENT AGENCY!! It does nothing to protect us, it’s only a fear mechanism to affect the nations psyche. We are NOT all criminals. These machines and policies are a violation of my 4th Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable searches. It is overly invasive and intrusive and is unneeded considering you are more likely to get struck by lighting two times than die in a terrorist attack. FUCK THIS POLICY AND AGENCY. Dismantle it immediately.”

Again, a huge thank you to everyone who participated. I’m looking forward to seeing what the TSA does. 🙂

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The TSA’s 2.5 year delayed notice and comment rulemaking, allowing them to use nude body scanners as primary screening in U.S. airports, came to a close yesterday after 3 months of accepting public feedback.

At the time of writing, the TSA has admitted to receiving 4,321 comments, a number sure to increase as they continue to post them (for example, mine hasn’t yet reached the public site). They are overwhelmingly in opposition to the proposed rule. I went through the last 100 posted, and of them:

• 97% were in opposition
• 2% were in favor
• 1% did not appear to take a position

At least 20 people mentioned me by name (all in opposition, of course), a handful of others mentioned my blog or my video, and at least one likely TSA Out of Our Pants reader took my suggestion and simply told the TSA that they suck. (Thanks Kristina out in L.A.!)

What happens now? The TSA has to review and respond to the comments, and then can decide whether or not to adopt the proposed rule. They unfortunately have great leeway in their decision (for example, the USPS once adopted a rule after receiving 10 comments in favor and 8,097 in opposition). The good news is that they have to consider every comment and respond to every reason that people have given them to get rid of the nude body scanners, or else face lawsuits (for example, by me :)).

Thank you to all who took the time to get involved. You’ve ended the TSA’s gloating that poorly-worded and implemented opinion polls show that Americans don’t really mind the scanners. Your comments make a difference and allow us another avenue to fight!

My Comment – Comment of Jonathan Corbett (.pdf)

The notice-and-comment rulemaking period regarding nude body scanners ends today. If you haven’t already, please take 5 minutes to submit a comment. Even a simple, “You suck and so do your scanners!” will be counted as a comment in opposition, so even if you don’t have much time, any comment in opposition will help:

https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/03/26/2013-07023/passenger-screening-using-advanced-imaging-technology

I’ll be publishing my comment tomorrow. 🙂

Today, the House of Representatives of the State of Texas debates H.B. 80 (information, full text), a bill to amend their official oppression statute to criminalize requiring genital touching (even through clothes), as well as the separation of parent and child, during security searches incident to transportation. The bill was introduced by Rep. David Simpson, who invited me to testify on the matter.

While I wasn’t able to make it in person, as I got less than 24 hours notice of the hearing, I put together 10 pages of written testimony that highlights the current problems with the TSA and the solutions offered by H.B. 80. H.B. 80 is more well-crafted than predecessors in the Texas legislature that two years ago prompted the TSA to threaten to declare Texas a “no-fly zone,” including text limiting the scope and declaring severability of the clauses.

It’s important that we support efforts like this, because even if the federal government thwarts the legal effect, they cannot thwart the attention that such measures bring to its abuse. If you live in Texas, contact your representative and let them know you support H.B. 80. Likewise, if you know someone who lives in Texas, please pass the message along.

Testimony of Jonathan Corbett, Texas House of Representaves, April 10th, 2013 (.pdf)