Category: TSA

Petition for Certiorari Draft Completed — Thoughts?

After much research, writing, and compliance with some pretty crazy Supreme Court rules (for example, most documents have to be submitted on 6.125″ x 9.25″ paper), I’ve completed my petition for certiorari, pending any suggestions from YOU:

Corbett v. US – Petition for Certiorari – Public Draft (.pdf)

If you’d like to provide your feedback, please do so by the end of tomorrow before it goes off to the printers. You don’t need legal experience — the document’s sole purpose is to convince the court that my case is important enough for it to hear, rather than to persuade the court to find in my favor. Filing happens Tuesday. 🙂

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Jonathan Corbett to Present Nude Body Scanner Failures to Congress, File US Supreme Court Petition, on May 22nd

I’m excited to announce that I will be presenting my findings as seen in my How To Get Anything Through TSA Nude Body Scanners viral YouTube video to Congress on May 22nd, 2012, in conjunction with Freedom to Travel USA, a traveler’s rights advocacy group. Additionally, I will be filing my petition to the US Supreme Court on the same day, asking the court to review whether we have the right to a full trial in US District Court when we as private citizens challenge the constitutionality of government action.

Please help us by calling and e-mailing your representatives (please do both — e-mails are easily ignored!) and asking them to send staffers or come in person to our presentation. The event will be held in the Cannon House Office Building, Room 402, at 10:00 AM. FTTUSA has created a formal invite, and members of the general public may also attend, space permitting (RSVP at the e-mail on the invite).

We’re getting somewhere, guys!

–Jon

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Broward County Offered Settlement in Exchange for Protecting Travelers; Refuses

Since I was illegally detained by the TSA at FLL, I have repeatedly told Broward County that I have no interest in suing them, but they have repeatedly, and despite good-faith efforts to work with them, shown that they are not interested in assisting passengers facing TSA abuse. In March, I filed suit against them for unlawfully performing a warrant check on me for the TSA, as well as lying to me about the existence of security cameras (not to be confused with my original lawsuit against the body scanners, a suit which seeks no monetary damages and is headed to the US Supreme Court).

Today, after Broward’s motion to dismiss was denied by the Court, I offered to discuss settlement options with the County, indicating that I would accept an agreement from them to protect passengers from TSA abuse (that is, to not assist the TSA in harassing a passenger without evidence that the passenger is committing a crime, and to agree to release security footage promptly when requested) instead of a large monetary settlement or judgment. The County has responded by telling me that they will not even engage in discussions regarding settlement.

As a traveler, this upsets me. But if I were a Broward County taxpayer, I would be furious. My lawsuit seeks $1.5 million in damages against the County, and if the County has an opportunity to avoid a judgment of even a fraction of that amount in exchange for an agreement to protect its citizens from abuse, it absolutely should do so. It is clear that Broward has taken a side, and it’s not the passengers. I urge any Broward residents to contact the county commissioners about this, and I urge all others to avoid flying to FLL airport until this issue is resolved and the County agrees to respect your rights.

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Appeals Process: Continue in 11th Circuit or Go To Supremes?

The 11th Circuit today denied my motion to transfer my existing case to it and order district court proceedings. It also denied the governments motion to clarify that it’s not allowed to order district court proceedings.

So here’s where we are: if I file a new petition in the 11th Circuit, the court *may* decide to allow me my right to be heard in district court. But, it may not, and may try to decide my case without giving me the opportunity to present evidence. It also would suck to not appeal their ruling that I can’t be in district court as-of-right. Everyone should have their day in a trial court.

If I file an appeal in the US Supreme Court, that court *may* overturn the 11th Circuit, which also has the effect of allowing me my right to be heard in district court. It *will* take a lot of time before that happens, whereas if I go with option #1 *and* the court rules well for me, it might get rid of scope & grope more quickly.

After much thought, I’ve decided that I shall simultaneously file both a new petition and a US Supreme Court appeal. Our right to have a trial, as well as our right to be free from unlawful searches, both must be litigated as expeditiously as possible. I’ve never been a fan of giving up one right to ensure another, and refuse to accept either/or when my constitution guarantees me both/and.

Filing two appeals greatly increases the cost of the fight. If you are able, your donations would be appreciated — the button is at the top-right of this page — with great thanks to those who have already donated.

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TSA Accuses 4 Year Old of Attempting to Smuggle Gun

First, a TSO began yelling at my child, and demanded she too must sit down and await a full body pat-down. I was prevented from coming any closer, explaining the situation to her, or consoling her in any way. My daughter, who was dressed in tight leggings, a short sleeve shirt and mary jane shoes, had no pockets, no jacket and nothing in her hands. The TSO refused to let my daughter pass through the scanners once more, to see if she too would set off the alarm. It was implied, several times, that my Mother, in their brief two-second embrace, had passed a handgun to my daughter.

My child, who was obviously terrified, had no idea what was going on, and the TSOs involved still made no attempt to explain it to her. When they spoke to her, it was devoid of any sort of compassion, kindness or respect. They told her she had to come to them, alone, and spread her arms and legs. She screamed, “No! I don’t want to!” then did what any frightened young child might, she ran the opposite direction.

That is when a TSO told me they would shut down the entire airport, cancel all flights, if my daughter was not restrained. It was then they declared my daughter a “high-security-threat”.

Two TSOs were following her and again I was told to have no contact with my child. At this point, I was beyond upset, I disregarded what the TSO had said to me, and I ran to my daughter. I picked her up. I hugged her. I tried to comfort her…

I was forced to set my child down, they brought her into a side room to administer a pat-down, I followed. My sweet four-year-old child was shaking and crying uncontrollably, she did not want to stand still and let strangers touch her… A TSO began repeating that in the past she had “seen a gun in a teddy bear.” The TSO seemed utterly convinced my child was concealing a weapon, as if there was no question about it. Worse still, she was treating my daughter like she understood how dangerous this was, as if my daughter was not only a tool in a terrorist plot, but actually in on it. The TSO loomed over my daughter, with an angry grimace on her face, and ordered her to stop crying. When my scared child could not do so, two TSOs called for backup saying “The suspect is not cooperating.” The suspect, of course, being a frightened child. They treated my daughter no better than if she had been a terrorist…

http://consumerist.com/2012/04/4-year-old-gets-tsa-pat-down-following-hug-from-grandma.html

How many times has the TSA promised that they would stop molesting children at airports? That parents would never be separated from their children? That their employees would be more sensitive when working with children? That the public won’t be treated like “suspects?”

This is an agency that cannot — does not — tell the truth. It has made no progress in any of the regards it has claimed it would. Instead, the abuse keeps flowing harder and faster. It absolutely amazes me that a parent has not become violent with a TSA screener after abusing their child or demanding separation from their child. In no other place would a parent put up with this shit.

For more details on this article and a picture of the little princess/suspect, Amy Alkon did a great write-up.

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Help The Next Video Happen: Share This Blog With a TSA Screener!

I’ve been getting lots of e-mails from TSA screeners reporting even more failures of the TSA, including one today that says they were told to make the pat-downs rougher if a traveller was deemed to be rude (“resistence” would be “met” harder). I’d like to again encourage you all to share this with anyone who works for the TSA, whether it be over the Internet or by passing out information in airports: I WANT YOUR STORY!

Though I would love it if you would come on camera and do an interview, once again, I will do everything I can to keep you anonymous if that’s what it takes to get your story (even moreso than Jennifer, who was happy to have her voice broadcast, but wanted to avoid becoming famous for the leak at this time). Short of a subpoena, I won’t release your info, and if you want to protect yourself against that, simply e-mail me from Starbucks with a free e-mail account created just for this purpose (don’t forget to check for a reply!). My e-mail for TSA screeners is: jon [at] fourtentech.com

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TSA Admits $1B Nude Body Scanner Fleet Worthless!

My last video demonstrated how easy it is to take a metal object through TSA nude body scanners undetected.

In this video, I interviewed an actual TSA screener to hear more about how these machines are an epic fail. “Jennifer,” who asked me not to use her real name or face, has been on the front lines of the TSA’s checkpoints for the last 4 years.

Please share this video with your family, friends, and most importantly, elected officials in federal government. Make sure they understand that your vote is contingent on them fixing the abuse that 200,000 passengers face from the TSA on a daily basis. If you are (or know) a TSA screener who has seen abuse in the TSA, please contact me (below)!

My legal battle against the TSA’s nude body scanner and pat-down molestation program continues in court, soon with a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. If you’d like to donate to this effort, send PayPal to: jon [at] fourtentech.com

I’d like to thank:

Travel Underground – http://www.travelunderground.org/

Freedom to Travel USA – http://fttusa.org/

Legislators who have stood up to the TSA – especially Dr. Ron Paul & Sen. Rand Paul

…and all those who have both publicly and privately stood up to the TSA.

Add me on Twitter: @tsaoutourpants (no “of”)

Transcript:

In the video I released last month, I showed the world that it’s trivial to beat the TSA’s nude body scanners; all it takes is simply strapping a metal object to your side. I referred to the program as a “giant fraud,” and I chose those words carefully: it was not an oversight, but rather the TSA knowingly imposed these virtual strip searches on us despite the fact that they don’t work.

Now how can I be so sure that the TSA knew that the scanners were broken? Well, in the first video I referred to other countries who take aviation security more seriously than we do had rejected the scanners years ago. Over the last year, we’ve also seen almost the entirety of Europe has backtracked on the body scanners. And there have been dozens of research studies that have shown vulnerabilities in the technology, of which the TSA must surely be aware.

But most importantly, I know because TSA employees have told me so. In the last year and a half since I filed my lawsuit against the scanners and the groping, I’ve received hundreds of e-mails and thousands of comments on my blog, and some from actual TSA employees who have seen the scanners fail first-hand. One of them was nice enough to sit down for an interview with me last week. “Jennifer” has been working with the Transportation Security Administration for the last 4 years as a screener, and had this to tell me:

[Video Interview Segment]
Jon: Were there specific times where this machine didn’t work, for either someone testing it, or a passenger went through and it was determined that they went through with…
Jennifer: Absolutely. Yes, absolutely.
Jon: Metal objects?
Jennifer: Metal, non-metal.
Jon: Big, small?
Jennifer: Both.
Jon: Things like wallets I think you mentioned to me?
Jennifer: Wallets.
Jon: So you’d send someone through the scanner and you’d see a bulge in their pocket, but the scanner would show nothing?
Jennifer: Mmhmm.
Jon: Things during training?
Jennifer: Absolutely.
Jon: What would you test it with when you were testing the machines?
Jennifer: There were different props: guns, knives, bags of powder that were supposed to resemble explosive material.
Jon: Sometimes these would just go through completely undetected?
Jennifer: Absolutely.

Now if it wasn’t scary enough that the TSA deployed these machines knowing they could take simulated bombs through them, Jennifer tells me that they were forcing screeners to run these radiation machines who hadn’t, according to the TSA’s own policies, been properly trained:

[Video Interview Segment]
Jon: They tried to send you to the machines, and you said, ‘Hold on, I’m not certified.’
Jennifer: Right.
Jon: And then in December I guess you tried the same thing and they said, ‘Too bad?’
Jennifer: We were forced to work on these machines. So basically, there were so few of us trained to work on the machines, they basically forced us.
Jon: So they didn’t care if you were certified or not?
Jennifer: No, I actually went to my supervisor — or a supervisor — the first day. I and another officer had this concern, that, you know, ‘Look, we’ve never worked on this particular machine, we don’t know what to do’ and his answer was, ‘Sorry, we don’t have enough staffing, you’re going to have to work on it.’
Jon: Certified or not, just get on the machine and make the best of it?
Jennifer: Yep, ‘just have your co-workers help you.’

After Jennifer was repeatedly ignored when she brought these serious issues up with management, she contacted her representatives in Congress for assistance… after which the TSA promptly began the process of firing her! A process, by the way, which took the TSA three months, during which Jennifer was forced to sit around on the taxpayer’s dime and do absolutely nothing. Fortunately, Jennifer turns in her uniform today.

[Video Interview Segment]
Jon: You wrote to Congress about the problems you saw in the TSA.
Jennifer: I did.
Jon: What happened?
Jennifer: I sent my letter on Jan. 1, and I came back from sick leave about a week later, and I was immediately removed from screening duties.
Jon: So you sent a letter to a Congressman — or to several — saying ‘Hey, there’s a problem with the TSA,’ and the TSA’s response was… retaliatory would you say?
Jennifer: Yes.
Jon: Was that the end of your screening duties… have you been back to screening since?
Jennifer: No.

This is why the TSA sucks. Because good employees who point out when the public is being put at risk aren’t listened to, they aren’t promoted – they’re fired! …and what’s left are the pizza-box employees that strip-search grannies, steal from your bags, throw hot coffee on pilots, and shoot up my neighborhood.

And every time another TSA employee is arrested – we’re up to at least 60 in the last 12 months – the TSA spouts off on their blog about the professionalism of their employees, just as when they’re caught on video molesting children at airports, they defend their employees’ fondlings as “by the book” – that book being the “Screening Checkpoint Standard Operating Procedures” or “SOP.” The SOP is the TSA’s secret guide as to how TSA employees are supposed to do screening as airports. The only problem is, TSA employees never actually read that book!

[Video Interview Segment]
Jennifer: Supposedly there is an SOP manual at every checkpoint. I’ve never seen it.
Jon: So you wouldn’t know where to go to find this book?
Jennifer: No, no.
Jon: *laughs*
Jennifer: I know, you can’t make this stuff up, you really can’t.
Jon: Did you read the SOP at any point, during training, or…
Jennifer: You mean initially…
Jon: Did you ever read the SOP from cover-to-cover?
Jennifer: Oh no, no… I’ve never read… no.

Absolutely stunning. I’d like to thank Jennifer for exposing this, and if you’re an attorney that would like to contact Jennifer, send me a message. I’d also like to encourage any of the few good TSA employees left who have seen abuse in the TSA to contact me – see the notes on this video for how to do so, anonymously if you’d prefer.

But there you have it. The TSA was aware of the fatal flaws in the nude body scanner program, yet knowingly defrauded the American taxpayer into buying these machines, as well as travellers from across the globe into posing naked “for their safety.” Well no more, guys — we’re done posing naked for the TSA. It’s time for the nude body scanner program to be immediately ended, for TSA Administrator John Pistole to be fired, and for the TSA to be dismantled as soon as possible. I encourage you to make this an election year issue and demand from your candidates a strong commitment to restoring our civil rights – and our sanity at airports. I also encourage anyone who’s asked to go through a body scanner to simply say, “I opt out,” and refuse to participate in this security theatre.

Until next time.

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New Video Coming Soon ;)

I’ve been working on producing a new video, which will be on the same level of epicness as the last one in exposing the TSA — and especially the nude body scanner program — as the giant fraud that it is. I’m pleased to announce that my new video will be released early next week.

No hints, but I promise you’ll like it. 🙂 Unless, of course, you’re a TSA supporter, in which case… well, apologies in advance.

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TSA Employees: Tell Me Your Story

Based on some messages I’ve received, I’ve learned the following:

  1. Many TSA employees hate their job, often due to management treating them poorly.
  2. Many screeners hate using the nude body scanners, often because they are worried about the radiation.
  3. Many screeners hate giving pat-downs, because the procedures require them to do ridiculous things (example: pat down someone’s hair even if it is short and obviously not concealing something) or simply because they don’t like touching other people’s junk.
  4. Many TSA employees actually care about security and TSA abuse and want to see things fixed.

If you know a TSA employee, frequent a message board that has TSA employees, happen to meet a TSA employee, or have any other way of sharing this article with TSA employees, please do so. If you are a TSA employee, please e-mail me at jon@fourtentech.com with your story. We can talk for attribution (with your name behind it), on camera, or completely anonymously. (I won’t disclose your name without your consent unless required to by court order. If you’re worried about court orders, simply take a laptop to any free WiFi location [airport, coffee shop, etc.] and create a new Gmail account without using your real info just for this purpose… but remember to check it for my reply!)

Things I’m particularly interested in hearing about include:

  • Body scanners not detecting things they should have detected
  • Being asked to work on equipment that you were not trained/certified to work on
  • Management knowingly ignoring security risks
  • Any kind of malfeasance (accepting bribes, giving positions/promotions to unqualified friends/family, lying in paperwork, etc.

If you know that the TSA is doing the wrong thing, be a whistleblower. Again, whether you want to remain unnamed or want your face in the news, please contact me at the e-mail address above.

While I cannot prevent you from sending me Sensitive Security Information (SSI), nothing in this post should be construed as asking you for SSI. Please follow the law. 🙂

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