TRI In The News
Lawsuit Another Example of Government Intrusion
10/17/2011
TRI IN THE NEWS: LAWSUIT ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF GOVERNMENT INTRUSION
From One News Now
Original article available here.
The Rutherford Institute has decided to appeal a federal court decision in a case challenging intrusive searches of pilots and passengers at air terminals.
The lawsuit was filed against the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) because of pat downs and virtual strip searches with advanced imaging technology.
"Our concerns go from everything from how passengers are touched to what they're touching. And as our clients show in this particular case, one is a recent breast cancer survivor and she did not want her breasts touched and they kept touching them intimately," explains Rutherford Institute founder John Whitehead, who adds there are other equally as offensive incidents.
"The Constitution requires that Americans are not treated like suspects, so what the government needs to do here is to very carefully tailor what they're doing and to make sure that we're looking for the real terrorists and not American citizens," the founder says.
The district court threw out the case based on a "supposed" secret order issued by the TSA that only the appeals court can examine TSA procedures. "Unfortunately, under the Obama administration we've seen a lot of secret orders issued," says Whitehead.
The case is on its way through the appeals process.
