Originally Posted by
janetdoe
In honor of national opt out day, I am more than willing to buy an airline ticket and opt out of an X-ray scan, but I don't really want to get groped. So what would happen if I also refused a pat down?
You would be esorted back outside the checkpoint, probably by an LEO.
Would I have committed any crimes?
No, not doing just what you said.
At what point is TSA allowed to detain me?
The TSA is never allowed to detain you. An LEO can detain you if he has sufficient cause to believe that a crime may have been committed or is about to be committed.
Can they take legal action against me or physically restrain me?
See above.
Can I ask for a lawyer?
You can
ask for anything you want! But there's no obligation to provide a lawyer for you unless you're actually arrested, which is unlikely.
What types of ID can they require me to provide?
The courts have held that it's legal for an LEO to ask you to "identify yourself", but that doesn't mean any specific form of ID and the courts have also ruled that any law requiring specific forms of ID (here it's refering to the LEO stop, not what might be required to fly) would be unconstitutional.