The 9th Circuit (Federal Court of Appeals) issued a new decision yesterday regarding the allowable scobe of TSA screening for contraband unrelated to safety. I am surprised that no one has commented yet. (I haven't read it yet and I will return to post more details later.)

UPDATE - Those who are interested in the scope of the administrative search, as understood by courts, will want to read U.S. v. McCarty. (The 9th Circuit website has pdf of opinions - no registration.) I only read the first few pages so far. It identifies (by name/number) the DHS procedure which requires TSA agents to report anything they find, that they think might be contraband, to a LEO. (The opinion describes the procedure as mandatory even if the screener isn't sure that it is actually contraband.) This case arose from a motion to suppress evidence (child porn) which was found in Hilo, HI during a baggage inspection. The Court explained that the luggage "alarmed" for having a "dense" item. The opinion says that the TSA agents are told that explosives can be packaged as "sheets" that are thin enough that if they find a pile of papers then must shuffle through the papers enough to figure out whether there are sheets of explosives. [I am just reporting what the decision says - don't ask me whether this sounds like B.S. in the absence of a power source and/or a triggering device.] So, they were shuffling through the papers in the suitcase and they found pictures which they felt might be contraband, so it was reported to a LEO. The District Court (trial court) had granted the motion to suppress the evidence, saying that it was outside the bounds of the administrative search for explosives. As I noted, the 9th Circuit panel disagreed and reversed.