Originally Posted by
Comanchepilot
If you intend to bring a lawsuit that the AIT/frisk process is unconstitutional - then you shall lose. No appellate court nor the USSC will rule that the TSA bureaucrats do not have the ability to set the security rules anyhow they want so long as there is the remotest tie in to security - no one wants to be seen as 'anti-security.'
No court will rule as you suggest. It certainly is not the case that the TSA (or any government agency) can "set the security rules anyhow they want". There's always a balance between security and personal liberty.
This case is much more interesting than the passenger situation. The courts have been unclear as to whether somebody has the right to travel
by air, but it's universally recognized that people have a right to enter their workplace. And it's hard to make the case that there's a compelling governmental interest in thoroughly screening somebody who legitimately has access to the flight deck of an aircraft.
Originally Posted by
PTravel
The courts have held that TSA is allowed to perform administrative searches in the interest of security but requires that they be minimally intrusive.
Has the issue of whether it's legal to require consenting to an administrative search as a condition of employment ever been litigated? It seems to me one could argue that it consists of tortious interference in the contract between the pilot and the airline.