Originally Posted by
TSORon
And there is where you step off the path of knowledge. I posted links to the relevant laws and acts of Congress. I hope you read them, but it does not seem so.
Constitution trumps Congress. It doesn't mean that Congress can't pass unconstitutional laws. It just means they have to be reviewed and can be stricken down.
Also correct, as far as it goes. The same applies here to the TSO as it does to the previous example of the law enforcement officer and the trunk, he can ask you about it. Must you answer? No, of course not. Can he call a LEO? Sure he can.
On what grounds? He won't give up his rights and tell me what I don't need to know? I'm telling!
Once again the LEO cannot demand you answer his questions. Cannot force you. But he can ask, and he can run background checks, NCIC checks, TSA lists, and a whole host of other things if he so chooses. Because he has Reasonable Suspicion. Just as the LEO did in St. Louis. With that he might be able to generate Probable Cause, and thereby find authorization for a more in-depth discussion. I’m sure PTraveler wont agree, but this is the way it has been done by police officers since the age of computers began.
So pretty much, you just confirmed that TSA is really just a big LEO fishing expedition. Best to say nothing.
You guys really are like the mob: won't talk? We'll beat it out of you. And we'll find something to make your life hell while we're here.
And where does the reasonable suspicion come from? I've sat in court rooms where judges say that silence CANNOT be construed as suspicion or guilt - it CAN'T be held against anyone. And considering that the guy in STL was on a domestic itinerary and had less than $5k, there was no reasonable suspicion. It was a TSO trying to make a guy's life hell.
You don't see how that goes against the "freedoms" you claim to protect?
God help us all.