Category: TSA

The TSA Likes It Both Ways

If you’ve been following for a while, you know that my first filing for court review of the TSA’s nude body scanner and genital molestation program was booted for being filed “in the wrong court” (if by “wrong” they mean “in the court that would give me the best opportunity to challenge the TSA’s unconstitutional behavior”). In order to convince the courts to dismiss my case and the several others like it, it had to assure the courts that the other court — the US Court of Appeals — actually would have jurisdiction. This was a problem, since filing in that court has a statutory time limit of 60 days absent “reasonable grounds” for delay.

So, when another plaintiff, who filed virtually the exact same complaint as I did (in large part word-for-word ;)) pointed this out to the judge in their case, the government argued that the “reasonable grounds” clause would clearly cover such a case, and the court need not worry about it:

assholery1

Months later, here we are in that Court of Appeals that the TSA insisted on. And, of course, now the TSA argues that reasonable grounds don’t actually apply:

assholery2

Just another fine example of the Department of Justice’s “Win At All Costs, Fuck Justice” attitude. Luckily, courts are not keen on hypocrites and arguing one thing in front of one court and the opposite in another is barred by the doctrine of judicial estoppel. …in theory, at least. Ruling in favor of the TSA here would mean that “scope & grope” would never be able to be reviewed by any court, ever, which is equivalent to placing the Constitution in the fireplace. Let’s see how the court handles this one!

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I Made It Into The TSA Dictionary!

A “rogue TSA screener” put up a new blog called Taking Sense Away (TSA ;)) that goes through much of the absurdity at the TSA, and includes a lot of feedback from other screeners and passengers. One post on his blog is The Insider’s TSA Dictionary, a guide to the unofficial lexicon of the TSA. One of his entries:

Corbetted (to Corbett): A term connoting a David like figure single-handedly exposing ridiculous vulnerabilities of a Goliath-like billion dollar technology. Ex: “The TSA announced they were going to start random house screenings after the house bomber plot last month. But some guy proved that all you had to do to foil the screening is close your curtains. Totally Corbetted their ass.”

Love it! 🙂

Hat tip: Ava Wilde

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TSA to Court: Actually Don’t Bother with Facts, Just Grant Us Permanent Immunity

In Monday’s post about the TSA asking the court to hear only its own version of the facts, the TSA had reached a new low. It appears they’ve continued to dig. Yesterday’s filing asks the court not to hear my challenge — or anyone’s challenge — regarding the nude body scanners and “pat-downs” — ever!

The basis of this request is that there is a law that says challenges to TSA orders have to be made within 60 days unless “reasonable grounds” are shown. So even though my original challenge *was* filed within 60 days (November 16th, 2010!), because I was forced to re-file in a different court (clearly not a “reasonable ground,” right?), the TSA would like the clock reset and the case thrown out. Naturally, this would mean that no one can challenge the order at this time or at any time in the future, in any court, ever.

In light of the fact that a constitutional injury continues every day that the order remains in place, this is blatantly unconstitutional. And stupid. The requests from the TSA continue to get crazier and crazier, perhaps because judges keep granting them. I seriously hope they’ve crossed a line that even a federal judge can see.

Corbett v. DHS – Jurisdictional Q Govt Reply (.pdf)

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TSA to Court: Only Hear Our Version of the “Facts!”

Our fight against the nude body scanners has been going on for over 2 years now. In that time span, the merits of the case have never seen the light of day while 1.5 billion travelers have been subject to the hands of the TSA (quite literally). The U.S. Department of Justice, instead of working in the interest of justice, has instead spent the entirety of the time attempting to disenfranchise anyone who has sought court review and ensuring that review of TSA procedures is delayed and marginalized. They’ve challenged standing (whether or not the TSA affects me enough that I’m entitled to review), they’ve challenged jurisdiction (which court I can go in and when I can file), and here and there, they’ve compared me to a terrorist. Nice, right?

But last week’s filing by the government is the most blatant slap to the face the Fifth Amendment has yet received in those 2+ years: the TSA has asked the Court to decide my lawsuit to end the scans and groping solely by reviewing their “administrative record” — which of course contains only the “facts” as the government presents them. They’ve essentially asked the court to bar discovery, experts, witnesses, and any other source of facts, because the TSA knows it all, and will fairly present all the facts to the court.

I truly wonder what kind of person writes these government briefs. Who goes to law school to study the incredible history of American jurisprudence, including and especially the Constitution, to end up in a career where they fight to take away the rights of the citizens?

Corbett v. DHS – Motion to Transfer (.pdf) (My brief)
Corbett v. DHS – Motion to Transfer Opposition (.pdf) (TSA’s brief)

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New Petition + TSA Removes 91 Body Scanners

It’s been a crazy 2 years. I never really imagined myself as a civil rights advocate, but on November 16th, 2010, I found myself sitting in a South Beach bar unable to enjoy my evening because I was so disturbed by what had just occurred in our airports. I sat there thinking long and hard about how unbelievable it was that our government was now asking to photograph us naked if we wanted to enter an airport, and I eventually came to this poetic conclusion: “Fuck this shit!” I left my mostly-full drink on the bar and returned to my office at about 2 AM, and didn’t stop writing until the sun was brightly shining through my window. I made the 7 mile trek to the courthouse with my new documents on rollerblades across the Venetian Causeway, which is beautiful on a sunny day, in about 25 minutes. The friendly U.S. Marshalls for sure still know me as “the guy with the rollerblades.”

I’ve since had some crazy experiences (Getting kicked out of airports? Presenting my work to Congress? Seeing my name on Drudge Report?) and met some amazing people, who have encouraged and supported me to this 2 year anniversary. Our fight moves slowly, but I’m ready to keep going, thanks to you all!

Today, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, along with the Department of Homeland Security, will be opening packages with a brand new petition asking for judicial review of the TSA’s nude body scanner and genital inspection programs. This petition is the first to be filed in a Court of Appeals that squarely addresses the constitutionality of the body scanners, and will seek an immediate stay of the order. I’m excited that the merits of my case may finally be addressed! Documents are linked below.

Also, great news: the TSA has removed 91 scanners from active use, put into a notorous graveyard for expensive taxpayer-funded gadgets that the TSA refers to as a “storage room” in Texas. This storage room is the same place where the “puffer machines” of 2006 rotted until they were thrown out. My prediction is that these machines will never scan another person. It’s a great step forward!

Corbett v. DHS – Petition (.pdf)
Corbett v. DHS – Motion to Transfer (.pdf)
Corbett v. DHS – Motion to Stay (.pdf)

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No Power But Petition Presses Onward

Just a quick note that electricity in lower Manhattan or not, the first draft of my new petition documents is completed. I’m going to spend the next couple of weeks adding sources and discussing with useful and interested parties, with a filing date of November 16th, 2012, which happens to be the 2-year anniversary of my first complaint and the very beginning of this blog!

Hard to believe it’s been 2 years!

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Woman Convicted of Crime for Yelling at TSA Screener Who Wanted to Touch Her Daughter’s Genitals

Regretfully, Andrea Abbott was found guilty of disorderly conduct stemming from yelling at a TSA screener who demanded to pat-down her teenage daughter. Her sentence was only a year of unsupervised probation, but what country do we live in where a jury agrees that a woman upset about government perverts demanding to grope her daughter has committed a crime?

Please express your outrage to the District Attorney’s office that prosecuted the case: http://da.nashville.gov/portal/page/portal/da/contactUs/

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Supreme Court Declines to Consider Whether Nude Body Scanners Deserve a Trial

I unfortunately just received news that the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear my appeal. My case against the body scanners was tossed by a U.S. District Court, and then appealed in and affirmed by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, under a law that the TSA interprets to mean, “Anything we write down cannot be fought in a trial court” — you know, the kind of court with a jury, discovery, witnesses, etc. — and must instead be fought in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that the fight is not over, it simply must be continued without that jury, and with discovery and witnesses allowed to me at the discretion of the 11th Circuit (instead of by right, as a reasonable reader of the Constitution might assume that we had). I will have my 11th Circuit filing completed within the next 30 days. If you’d like to donate to this expensive effort, click the Donate button at the top right of the page.

I’ve heard from thousands of you over the last 2 years now. Thank you so much for the support, and let’s continue this fight together!

–Jon

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Judge Orders Parties to Proceed in Corbett v. TSA

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. 🙂

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Manchester Replies, Says Scanners Are Effective. May I Test That?

The spokesman who was the subject of yesterday’s post replied to me today, telling me:

“I’m a spokesperson for this airport so when I said everybody in my quote, I meant our staff and our passengers from whom we’ve had overwhelmingly positive, genuine feedback.”

“On the health point, medical and x-ray equipment experts from across the World who’ve actually examined back scatter technology in detail have concluded unanimously that it poses negligible health risks.”

“Unsurprisingly, I also don’t agree that the scanners are ineffective. Security officers are not looking for metal tins but your film is an interesting watch and has certainly fuelled imaginations. We have actually operated body scanners for three years and we know they work.”

Well, on the first one, only you know whether or not you’re being truthful, but judging by the fact that even the TSA admits to receiving hundreds of complaints, it seems that Manchester must have very selective hearing.

On the second one, I’m no doctor, but I do know that there has been no fully-independent testing of the nude body scanners. Most of the times, the government has provided “researchers” with the data and asked them to come to conclusions, rather than giving them scanners and letting them run tests. I use “researchers” lightly because such a “scientist” is but a government lackey. I also know that the x-ray machines have been shown to operate out-of-specification (calculation error… or was it??) and to leak radiation to those near it (known as overshoot, which will affect the screeners more than anyone else). I also know that the most deadly computer programming error ever involved an x-ray machine that was “totally safe” until it accidentally overdosed its subjects, most of whom died a horribly painful death. Finally, I also know that the screeners are not qualified, even by the TSA’s own policies, to run radiation machines.

But that last one — the efficacy claim — I happen to know a lot about. 🙂 In March 2012, I took an undetected metal container through both backscatter and MMW ATD nude body scanners. The whole point of these things was supposed to be to detect non-metallic explosives, which my metal container could have been full of. To say that they are effective when they have been proven otherwise seems to be a matter of believing what you want to believe.

But Manchester, or any other airport with nude body scanners, if you would like an efficacy test, I would be happy to provide one. Get in touch with me and get me the proper approvals and paperwork, and we can have a challenge to see what can and cannot be brought past your security. My only condition is that we publish the results.

Somehow I don’t expect any takers on that one. I wonder why?

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