Posted on 07/19/2007 7:40:49 AM PDT by Verloona Ti
Well, I called the Cloakroom and THEY don’t know.
While I am making a presumption, it would be my belief that the amendment DOES NOT protect a citizen from knowingly filing a false report of suspicion. If you have any source of info that would prove my assumption otherwise then please provide it.
Though I believe the Imams probably did this on purpose to cause the uproar that they wanted, let's presume they were completely innocent, just for the sake of argument. Have they suffered damages due to this situation? It could be argued. Do you think a lawyer wouldn't be drooling for a shot, no matter the odds, at an airline? As for myself, I carry two red gas cans that are full of saltwater into my house to do water changes for my fish tank once a week. It's highly unlikey, but someone "could" interpret that as something suspicious. Especially if I were Muslim, IMHO. Could I be damaged by something as simple as misunderstanding? It's happened to people before. Will I like the idea of the police dropping by to checl it out? Not likely.
Although this situation is unlikely(I hope), frivolous lawsuits already abound. I work next to an ambulance chaser and I hear some weird things people get sued over. If a suspicious, but unknowingly false accusation, happens to an innocent person, it will at best be a hassle, at worst something much more costly.
I completely agree with the spirit of the law. By no means do I think it's a bad idea. I just think some extra provisions could be made to protect the accused. I want absolute zero chance of my money going down the drain to a lawyer to defend an accusation that may possibly affect my life negatively.
Your presumption(IMO) is the Gov't has made adequate protections for it's law abiding citizens in this bill. I tend not to trust them and especially not most lawyers. You also may be presuming only reasonable people will make an accusation on a reasonable suspicion. I believe there's a lot of unreasonableness in the world.
This is an important bill.
Here’s a link to find/write your Representative easily:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
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