Texas legislators have to stand up and fight to retain the sovereignty of the state and our Constitutional rights.
The first time the TSA bill came to the floor of the Texas legislature, it sailed through the House unanimously but never made it to the Senate because of threats by the Department of Justice. Then Governor Perry put it on the agenda for the special session and the legislature was supposed to consider it. That failed because of the lack of a quorum. Today, the legislature is supposed to take it up again.
Stand up! Tell the TSA that they have no authority in Texas, because that federal has no brakes and is careening toward a police state at a break-neck speed.
Forget airports as the exclusive lair of your TSA (Transportation Safety Administration). Now you need look no further than your neighborhood bus station, train station, weigh station, or your own private vehicle to find the friendly face of your local TSA agent.
We haven’t heard much about it because the news media has focused on the behavior of TSA agents in airports. However, the TSA makes 8,000 unannounced security inspections each year on trains, subways, ferries, buses, vans, 18-wheelers, and now, coming to a neighborhood near you, on private vehicles—cars and pickup trucks.
Currently, the TSA has 25 VIPR (Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response) teams that carry out these inspections and the federal agency is asking for more money to fund 12 additional teams.
In late February, the TSA moved into the Amtrak station in Savannah, Ga., and thoroughly searched every person who entered the station, including those disembarking from the train. They made passengers lift their shirts and subjected everyone to pat-downs, including handling some women’s bras while luggage sat unattended on the train platform. The TSA found nothing but trouble.
At first, Amtrak Police Chief John O’Connor thought a blog posting about the incident was a joke. After a bit of investigation, he found that the post reported at least some of the truth and reacted. Newswire reported that O’Connor ordered VIPR teams off Amtrak property, at least until a firm agreement can be drawn up to prevent the TSA from taking actions that the chief said were illegal and clearly contrary to Amtrak policy.
“When I saw it, I didn’t believe it was real,” O’Connor said. When it developed that the posting on an anti-TSA blog was not a joke, “I hit the ceiling.”
For the video of the screening, click on the link:
Liveleak.com.
While the TSA claims it wants to prevent incidents like the 2004 Madrid train bombings, they have a dismal record of allowing items such as large knives, loaded guns, and explosives pass through their screening process.
CNN has reported that TSA officers at Florida's Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport patted down a cancer-stricken, 95-year-old woman and forcibly removed her adult diaper during the search.
Under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, with few exceptions, police searches require a search warrant based on probable cause. Any police entry of an individual's home always requires a warrant (for either search or arrest), or the free and voluntary consent of a person with reasonably apparent use of or control over the property. In addition, searches must be reasonable and specific to object searched for and location.
Courts have ruled that law enforcement must view your car or truck as sacredly as your home and that in order to search it, they must have a warrant. I guess the TSA doesn’t have that particular court ruling in their library of training materials.
In recent days, we’ve heard various reports coming out of Brownsville, Texas telling of TSA searches of private passenger cars and trucks. If they can get away with this sort of tactic, I see nothing to prevent them from coming into homes to search for anything they want, anywhere they want, anytime they want, without proper warrants.
So if you thought to escape the clutches of the TSA by not flying, think again. They may be coming to your neighborhood soon, unless someone puts a stop to this gross violation of our 4th Amendment rights.
