Posted on 04/19/2010 7:41:31 AM PDT by markomalley
Federal security workers are now free to snoop through more than just your undergarments and luggage at the airport. Thanks to a recent series of federal court decisions, the digital belongings of international fliers are now open for inspection. This includes reading the saved e-mails on your laptop, scanning the address book on your iPhone or BlackBerry and closely scrutinizing your digital vacation snapshots.
Unlike the more common confiscations of dangerous Evian bottles and fingernail clippers, these searches are not being done in the name of safety. The digital seizures instead are part of a disturbing trend of federal agencies using legal gimmicks to sidestep Fourth Amendment constitutional protections. This became clear in an April 8 court ruling that found admissible the evidence obtained by officials who had peeped at a passenger's laptop files at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.
According to court documents, FBI agents had identified an individual suspected of downloading child pornography on an Internet chat room. The G-men, however, did not want to take their evidence before a judge to obtain a search warrant, as the Constitution requires. Instead, they flagged the suspect's passport and asked officials at the Department of Homeland Security to seize and search his computer at the airport - without a warrant. Three incriminating images were found during the examination, but this case is not about whether a particular person is a scumbag. It's about abusing a principle that applies to all Americans.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
What a great day to be an American!
The TSA is truely W’s fault!
It’s that dammed George W. Bush again. (/sarcoff)
I flew out of DCA a couple of months ago and they didn’t even check my liquids I carried on board. On the way back, both security personnel at EZE and JFK checked them, but the ones at DCA are always talking about stuff and not paying attention.
Let them get past the multiple passwords first.
Are You Living in a Constitution Free Zone?
I don’t like the ACLU but here is an interesting article.
http://www.aclu.org/national-security_technology-and-liberty/are-you-living-constitution-free-zone
Lping
Remember, the senate was split 50-50 after the 2000 elections. Even though Cheney held the tie-breaking vote, Bill Frist was persuaded to accept a power sharing agreement with the Democrats which lasted until Jeffords was flipped.
Bush acquiesced to the creation of the TSA to provide more job for government union hacks as a price to pay for getting what he deemed more important security measures passed in the wake of 9-11.
And it's not fear of flying.
Im starting to think of upgrading my license to multi-engine, commerical, and instrament to avoid TSA.
The whole country is now a Constitution-Free Zone.
So it’s Frist and W’s fault.
I just saw that scene on TV. Nobody, but nobody is better than Walken.
Not bad. I usually use a SD card to store my data on my laptop; this looks like a step up from that.
Can you use that with your own apps, or is it just their set?
Google “asians doing Christopher Walken” from the Tosh.0 show on ComedyCentral.
Some really fantastic impressions.
bump
They could put little ticks and numbers on the wheel that you could spin like a combo lock.
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