Just a little food for thought for your next airplane ride. The 4th amendment of the U.S. constitution reads..
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Sounds reasonable to me. And now, the little note from the TSA left in my checked bag, neatly tucked between my clean, folded boxer shorts..
The full text follows below the line..
Security
Administration
NOTICE OF
BAGGAGE INSPECTION
To protect you and your fellow passengers, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is required by law* to inspect all checked baggage. As part of the process, some bags are opened and physically inspected. Your bag was among those selected for physical inspection.
During the inspection, your bag and its contents may have been searched for prohibited items. At the completion of the inspection, the contents were returned to your bag.
If the TSA security officer was unable to open your bag for inspection because it was locked, the officer may have been forced to break the locks on your bag. TSA sincerely regrets having to do this, however TSA is not liable for damage to your locks resulting from this necessary security precaution.
For packing tips and suggestions on how to secure your baggage during your next trip, please visit:
We appreciate your understanding and cooperation. If you have questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact the TSA Contact Center:
Email:TSA-ContactCenter@dhs.gov
49 U.S.C. 44901(c)-(e)
I feel your pain. Traveling just sucks (http://www.johnmurch.com/2007/06/12/travel-from-hell/), although I have been driving and taking the train (yea I know your getting one of those soon out there). It’s fast to take a train then to take a plane from NYC to Boston, go figure! Good Luck the next time you fly, hopefully they won’t “lose” your luggage.
well, i’d rather be safe. I have nothing to hide so…look through anything you want
You could use that same argument for letting the police run unwarranted vehicle or home searches simply in the name of “safety”. Seems unconstitutional to me and I’d rather not have it.
Those who would sacrifice liberty for the sake of temporary security deserve neither and will lose both. – B. Franklin
Jason,
That’s my general opinion, as well.
I work for TSA and we check baggage so we don’t have another 9/11, we don’t do it to snoop into what ever it is you have. Our job is to keep the lives of every one traveling safe.
I’m sure that the baggage checkers are generally great people that truly care about the safety of passengers. The purpose of this post is NOT to speak badly of these people, but to point out the constitutional invalidity of a federal agency choosing to search our bags when they have no reason to suspect us of unscrupulous activity.
The airlines independently doing this would be a totally different situation, but regardless of the best intentions of the act and the people doing it, it’s still constitutionally wrong.