I fly 100K per year, and will SDOO whenever possible due to radiation concerns. The patdowns have generally been benign but the punitive patdowns my spouse and I experienced recently at a So. Fla. TSA inspection were aggressive & intrusive. They sent me through the WMTD after a patdown, and it seemed this was triggered first by my wife's request to go through the WTMD. They had shut down the WMTD when she arrived there. It seemed deliberate and I've heard they use the term "resistant" for those who decline to use WBI. They took her cane and gave her a clear plastic one to go through the area and escorted to the inspection area. She was offered a private inspection but had never had anything other than patdowns with the back of the agent's hand in "sensitive " areas. This was completely different. We were separated from our luggage, and my wife, who is disabled and uses a cane was told not to speak to me as I underwent the first patdown.

Seems to me there were multiple civil rights violations. We've been reading up on the "enhanced" patdowns with the hands, inspections into pants waistbands etc. and in general, frustrated by the apparent impunity with what we experienced earlier this month. My wife's patdown by the female agents hands seemed overly-thorough.

Can anyone direct us to the standards on these patdowns, and would we have been better off to request private patdowns with each of us as the other's designated companion. Would that have made things worse?

Any suggestions and links to other sites would be appreciated. The disparity of patdowns across the US is quite staggering and we need more information before we fly again in 2012.