Originally Posted by
IrishDoesntFlyNow
For the sake of argument, let's presume that Bierfeldt planned the whole thing. He didn't kowtow to their demands, so I guess that makes him "non-compliant". So what? One cannot lay any portion of blame on Bierfeldt that the TOS and LEO's involved responded like common schoolyard bullies.
Don't try to turn me into the Devil's Advocate here. My original point was that his actions contributed to the scenario. I'm not going to get into the how the TSO's and Police sounded on the tape, that would be several MORE pages.
Originally Posted by
IrishDoesntFlyNow
What, exactly, developed later? One didn't have to be there; it's on tape. Bullies acted like bullies. Bierfeldt, bless his libertarian heart, acted like a United States citizen asserting his rights. Do you think it would somehow have made a stronger case if he had simply refused to answer at all? I think it would have turned out substantially the same way. Do you think it would somehow have made a stronger case if he had been "compliant"? Had he been "compliant", no one would be in court testing TSA's limits.
I think he could have been compliant, captured the recording and this would have been a pretty clean case for the ACLU. Again, his actions have given the TSA avenues of defense. In life, sometimes you have to
appear to lose to ultimately win the game.
Originally Posted by
IrishDoesntFlyNow
And your point is ..... ? Actually, the original TSO continued to detain him for several more minutes after he finally identified the source of the funds. Unlike Bierfeldt, I suppose I'd still be in jail -- they'd have had to waterboard me to get me to answer those questions.
That is for the TSA to explain. If you remember the original comment, it only dealt with Bierfeldt's role. Once the source of funds was identified, his role was complete.
Originally Posted by
IrishDoesntFlyNow
To paraphrase the inimitable words of Bumble ... if the TSA presumes that, then the TSA is a a$$. And this is how courts get to decide questions of this kind -- some patriot steps up, draws a line, and says "this far and no farther". Civil disobedience has a long and proud history in this country.
So you don't believe that the courts would see the same 4th Amendment issues if he had answered the questions?