Fines Against Passengers Draw Fire

FOX NEWS ^ | March 12, 2004 | Kelley Beaucar Vlahos

[BulletBobCo]

WASHINGTON

[agitator]

I don't understand why anybody would *willingly* subject themselves to a TSA groping and pay for it. As far as I'm concerned, let the airlines go out of business.

[jwalsh07]

Surely, morons like Ms Steak Knife understand that her carelessness results in loss of productivity for all those standing behind and beside her. $300.00 sounds cheap.

[Izzy Dunne]

a recently released set of guidelines for assessing fines on airline passengers who violate security policies. They are part of a tough multi-layered approach to defending airports and planes from any potential terrorist threat

Hello?
Clear thinking, anyone?
Can someone explain how the fine helps to "defend the airport or plane"??

I'd be willing to bet that a terrorist, intent on hijacking the plane, is not going to care that a $300 fine will be mailed to his house in a few weeks.

Stop the knife if you have to, but don't pretend that the fine is "defending" anything...

[NYCVirago]

Who carries a steak knive in a purse, anyway? This isn't like busting this woman for tweezers or nail clippers. This woman should be embarrassed for being such an idiot as to try to go onto a plane with a steak knife in her shoulder bag; instead, it's the big bad government's fault.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

she was unaware there were penalties for what she had done.

Ignorance of the ill-conceived, un-constitutional, totalitarian-istic laws are no excuse, Ma'am.

Now get out your wallet and pay your fine to the nice jack-booted thug at the window.
Thank you and have a nice day.

[NYCVirago]

The organization this woman works for has this mission statement on their website:

The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) is a national support center whose mission is to protect and promote the rights and opportunities of low income immigrants and their family members.

This woman has an axe to grind already against the feds. This is just icing on the cake.

[Henrietta]

"This isn't like busting this woman for tweezers or nail clippers. "

Tweezers and nail clippers are not "prohibited items."

[NYCVirago]

Tweezers and nail clippers are not "prohibited items."

That's my point. Steak knives *are* prohibited items, even if they're used to cut up apples and cheese, as this woman claims she was carrying it for.

[rdb3]

Surely, morons like Ms Steak Knife understand that her carelessness results in loss of productivity for all those standing behind and beside her. $300.00 sounds cheap.

It is cheap. People really don't think that there should be consequences for their actions, right?

Show 'em my motto!

[NonValueAdded]

Hey lady, it is a stupidity tax. Next time check your carry on luggage to see what is in there before entering the security realm of a gubermint agency.

[sd-joe]

>> Surely, morons like Ms Steak Knife understand that her carelessness results in loss of productivity for all those standing behind and beside her. <<

Aww, lighten up. Who among us has not forgotten about a bat, chain saw, grenade or howitzer they left in their purse?

[Publius6961]

But a steak knife mistakenly left in her shoulder bag before a July flight from Baltimore thrust her in the position of defending herself to federal security officials

I hate it when that happens, leaving a steak knife in my purse. Happens all the time.
I ran out of kleenex out of infinite empathy for this obviously intelligent, conscious and thoughtful air traveler.

[Publius6961]

said Campbell, the deputy director of the National Immigration Law Center

Well!
This explains everything. She works in an office with a collective IQ of 120.

Laws are for other people. If I don't like a law I get to just do what I feel like.
Only a moron would be unaware, after almost 3 years, that a knife on an airline flight is a no-no.

[atomicpossum]

— Travelers who try to bring explosives on a plane, $10,000.

Ooooooooooookay.

[There's millions of'em]

Who among us has not forgotten about a bat, chain saw, grenade or howitzer they left in their purse?

Good point.

But, how do they get an "average" fine of $210 when the minimum fine shown is $300??

[Mulder]

People really don't think that there should be consequences for their actions, right?

I hope I'm around long enough to see the jackboot Nazis suffer some consequences for their actions.

[gieriscm]

Ditto. I simply refuse to fly any more... and if I drive I can guarantee that my valuables (including any firearms, never mind a steak knife) will remain securely in my posession, and will not be used to enhance some baggage handler's income.

[Mulder]

Only a moron would be unaware, after almost 3 years, that a knife on an airline flight is a no-no.

Who is the victim?

Where is the damaged property?

Where is the criminal intent?

Maybe we should start concentration camps for the "morons".

BTW, I hope that you've never forgotten anything or made an honest mistake, or you might be amongst the inmates one day.

[HighWheeler]

"Surely, morons like Ms Steak Knife understand that her carelessness results in loss of productivity for all those standing behind and beside her. $300.00 sounds cheap."

The only way your point carries any credibility is if you think the TSA rules are fully credible. I had to wait in a 1 1/2 hour line, with hundreds of others, just for all the non-threatening passengers to go through the search routine without incident. So where is my $300 compensation going to come from?