I posted about the Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) scanners last year,
Now, in addition to not being able to leave your seat for 1 hour prior to takeoff or landing, not having access to any of your personal property for that period of time, getting a full pat-down and luggage search (new rules), plus having to remove your shoes, surrender any containers with more than 3.5 ounces of fluid – including breast milk for your baby – and enduring miles-long lines at the airport (old rules), the airport staff gets a nice look at your privates.
Now comes the next step, if you refuse the AIT scan: the cavity search. Scott Ott writes about it and urges, Don’t Let Strip-and-Grope Become the New Normal
Without regard for threat potential, airline passengers of all ages can now be forced to make the choice between baring their nakedness before a federal agent, or getting a full-body fingertip groping by another federal agent. The Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) scanners — AKA strip-search machines — now stand watch in more than 65 airports nationwide, with their numbers set to grow by more than 40 percent at year’s end, thanks to your federal stimulus dollars.
The procedure is so humiliating and so invasive that even flight crews are rebelling. The 11,000-member American Pilots Association just received a letter from its leader decrying the humiliation, radiation danger and ineffectiveness at deterring terrorism, of this strip-and-grope regimen.
In order to board a plane last Sunday I had to remove my bracelet, empty my handbag and show my camera, take out the laptop out of the envelope and the tote bag, and remove my shoes. I then had to place the bracelet, handbag and camera on one tray, the shoes in another, and the tote and laptop in yet another tray. Then, before I went through the gate itself, I was told to remove my cardigan – heaven knows what one could possibly hide under a lightweight cardigan from WhiteHouse/Black Market. I should have worn a burka instead. It’s a wonder I was not asked if I had any lose dental work.
It gets worse, if you opt out,
What does all of this accomplish, as far as airline security goes?
Nothing.
Not a thing.
Instead, adopting security measures that Israel uses, plus training and issuing firearms to pilots and airline crews would actually be effective.
Here’s the Fourth Amendment:
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.
Notice how the Constitution does not say, “except when you travel.”
