I never thought I'd be defending Ron Paul, Rand Paul, or any of the rest of that group, but they are right.
33 posted on Monday, January 23, 2012 6:19:23 PM by xkaydet65: “He, in the course of his duty when the Senate is in session, cannot be detained from travelling to and from the Senate. It was placed in the Constitution to prevent people using LEOs to keep lesgislators from appearing to vote. In the course of doing their constitutional duty, they are different.Rand Paul was stopped from entering the secure area and was prevented from leaving the area with the detectors.”
44 posted on Monday, January 23, 2012 6:58:43 PM by Texas Fossil: “Original intent both federal and state is to prevent opposition from detaining by law enforcement as a means to change the outcome in a House or Senate vote. If they are detained and not present they cannot vote.”
For whatever it's worth, this is not mere theory.
Our Founding Fathers knew their history, and knew the British Parliament's history, including efforts of the King to arrest Oliver Cromwell and other Members of Parliament.
The bar on arresting sitting members of a legislative body exists for very good reason.
Picking a fight with either Ron Paul or Rand Paul was an incredibly bad idea for the TSA, but it may have positive outcomes for the rest of us citizens who do not have Congressional privileges.
Thanks