T.S.A. Expands Beyond Airport Security

[cuafpr]

would you really want to fly in today's world in which no one was searched prior to getting on a plane ? O.o Not saying the TSA might sometimes go over board but damn.. the other extreme is just as bad if not worse imo.

[Barnabas]

Well it's nice to know I'm gonna be treated like a criminal on a regular basis outside of the airport. Congress needs to cut funding to TSA and NSA already.

[Crissi]

and yet, some company is going to have to fill the hole that TSA will leave if completely cut out. Someone want to explain to me how a big private company is any less nefarious than the gov't?

[Spectral]

would you really want to fly in today's world in which no one was searched prior to getting on a plane ?

Yes, I'd fly with essentially no fear. I ride a train in what would be one of the top terror target cities in the world every day and nearly no searches are ever conducted. This doesn't seem to result in massive explosions rocking trains too regularly.

Hell, the scariest form of transportation I take isn't jets and trains, or other public transportation, it's driving or riding a bike with the nuts on the road around here.

[c2dholla619]

would you really want to fly in today's world in which no one was searched prior to getting on a plane ? O.o Not saying the TSA might sometimes go over board but damn.. the other extreme is just as bad if not worse imo.

well tsa hasnt caught anyone yet. i am 10x more likely to get killed by a govt official then i am from a terrorist. if im going to be afraid of getting on a plane with someone i would be afraid to fly with a govt official on board.

[Spectral]

and yet, some company is going to have to fill the hole that TSA will leave if completely cut out.

This is only true if you believe the TSA provides a necessary and useful service.

[Barnabas]

would you really want to fly in today's world in which no one was searched prior to getting on a plane ? O.o Not saying the TSA might sometimes go over board but damn.. the other extreme is just as bad if not worse imo.

Yes I would actually prefer to not have to stand in a long ass line to prove to everyone I just want to get to my destination and not bother anyone.

[Crissi]

This is only true if you believe the TSA provides a necessary and useful service.

Seeing how many guns they end up confiscating, i do believe they provide a necessary service.

[Spectral]

Seeing how many guns they end up confiscating, i do believe they provide a necessary service.

Given how many guns they miss without that ever actually resulting in a shooting on a plane, I do not think they provide a necessary service.

[c2dholla619]

Seeing how many guns they end up confiscating, i do believe they provide a necessary service.

guns arent a threat. people are a threat regardless... a ninja can cut your head off with a piece of paper

[Crissi]

Given how many guns they miss without that ever actually resulting in a shooting on a plane, I do not think they provide a necessary service.

then we can agree to disagree. Although they certainly need to have more competent training.

[Spectral]

Although they certainly need to have more competent training.

I don't think training is the problem. I think giving flunkie idiots any authority whatsoever is the problem. I don't know when we decided to give the dumbest members of society the capacity to fuck with others, but it does not serve us well.

[c2dholla619]

I don't think training is the problem. I think giving flunkie idiots any authority whatsoever is the problem. I don't know when we decided to give the dumbest members of society the capacity to fuck with others, but it does not serve us well.

do you even need a high school diploma for the job?

[Isnot]

do you even need a high school diploma for the job?

No you just have to be into sexual harassment and theft and the job is handed to you.

[Wiyld]

You do not have a right to privacy in a public location, such as airports, bus stops and train stations.
They have never needed a warrant to search your bags. EVER.

This is inaccurate.

Law enforcement officials cannot randomly walk up to a person for no reason and ask that they submit to a drug test. They can do so if they have reasonable suspician say, when you are driving, but not just out of the blue. This has been backed up in court as a matter of privacy. So, in a public place you DO have certain expectations of privacy. Your statement is incorrect then, at least to some degree.

[c2dholla619]

Joy. Can't wait for this, thankfully I rarely take public transportation.

dont worry TSA will eventually begin to monitor who enters walmart.

[Cthulhu 2020]

would you really want to fly in today's world in which no one was searched prior to getting on a plane ? O.o Not saying the TSA might sometimes go over board but damn.. the other extreme is just as bad if not worse imo.

The statistical probability of getting on a plane with terrorists and having that plane get hijacked is astronomically lower than getting in a fatal car accident on your way to work every morning.

Better not get in your car.

[Wiyld]

The statistical probability of getting on a plane with terrorists and having that plane get hijacked is astronomically lower than getting in a fatal car accident on your way to work every morning.

Better not get in your car.

Decklan I almost never agree with you on your positions in our discussions here on MMOC but if I am reading your sarcasm correctly I think we might have at least a miniscule amount of common ground.

./mindblown

[Sunseeker]

You know, of all the times I've been to an airport in the last decade, which is a few, I've never once had any trouble with TSA. The worst that's happened to me is they found a pocket knife my dad gave me in one of my carry-ons. I had rearranged my bag and forgot about it. They said they could either mail it, or trash it. I was pretty broke at that point in my trip, so I sadly had to toss it. The guys were pretty nice about it. No strip searches or hour-long detentions. And this was at Denver International, a fairly major airport.

[Laize]

You do not have a right to privacy in a public location, such as airports, bus stops and train stations.
They have never needed a warrant to search your bags. EVER.

Not to be picky... but this is flat out wrong. While I am not really sure the TSA itself is unconstitutional, I simply don't understand how their screening methods haven't been struck down. But until the screening methods are abused, there are no grounds to sue. For their part, the TSA has done quite well staying out of the SCOTUS by backing down on the whole body imaging... and... you know... not actually arresting anyone.

Here's the text of the Fourth Amendment with the relevant word underlined.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized

Travel bags most certainly fall under "effects".

This text is why police are not allowed to search your car, person, bags without probable cause or a warrant. It's also why New York's Stop and Frisk program was ruled unconstitutional (In fact, Terry Stops in general were, according to the SCOTUS ruling, limited only to searches for weapons on a person whom the police had reasonable suspicion had committed or was about to commit a crime. Cops simply are not allowed to search for drugs or anything else unless they have probable cause or a warrant.). Without probable cause (or even reasonable suspicion), law enforcement is simply not permitted to search your belongings.

With that in mind, I simply cannot understand how the TSA's methods are constitutional.

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would you really want to fly in today's world in which no one was searched prior to getting on a plane ? O.o Not saying the TSA might sometimes go over board but damn.. the other extreme is just as bad if not worse imo.

Why wouldn't I?

The only difference between a world with the TSA and a world without the TSA is $7.91 billion in savings in the US budget.

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You know, of all the times I've been to an airport in the last decade, which is a few, I've never once had any trouble with TSA. The worst that's happened to me is they found a pocket knife my dad gave me in one of my carry-ons. I had rearranged my bag and forgot about it. They said they could either mail it, or trash it. I was pretty broke at that point in my trip, so I sadly had to toss it. The guys were pretty nice about it. No strip searches or hour-long detentions. And this was at Denver International, a fairly major airport.

So because you've had no trouble... it's simply not a problem? I certainly hope you realize what we do here with anecdotal evidence.