Originally Posted by
rico567
2. Anyone who thinks they have been abused and their rights have been violated should by all means pursue complaints and all other avenues of redress. That CANNOT be done on an Internet forum.
Complaints get circular-filed. The courts generally throw out the cases on inadequate grounds and even when they try to do something the TSA just thumbs their nose at them. We have no recourse against the TSA.
3. As far as our experience (we usually travel by air twice a year or so, and have for around 15 years), we've never seen, heard of, or had anyone in an airport mention any problem with security.
We've never had any serious problems but my wife has gotten a couple of unjustified pat-downs (although not the sexual-assault grope of a retaliatory)--their inability to resolve something on the x-ray doesn't give them any justification to pat her down. Just open the bag and have a look, morons!
4. A while ago, I read a lengthy thread (not on Flyer Talk) about the alleged abuses of the TSA, and consulted with my brother about this. He has worked for the TSA (at a major airport which will not be named) since about a year after its inception. While he has heard some second or third-hand stories, neither he nor his wife (who also works for TSA in the same airport) has ever been involved in an incident where a passenger evidenced discomfort with the process, or complained about the process.
Most of us know better than to give bullies any indication that they are succeeding. Thus even when the agents are out of line there usually won't be any complaint. To complain is to ask for a missed flight and a sexual-assault grope.
5. No system is perfect. The TSA was instantly brought into being post-9/11, and for very good reasons. I want them there, and I want them to do their job.
Why don't you move to Russia, then? Their "job" is to destroy the 4th amendment and get us used to living in a police state.
They are still finding guns in people's carryons after 11 years, folks.
So? People make mistakes. The old metal detectors/x-rays caught them fine.
Our system of law guarantees redress of grievances, and those abuses should be pursued by the persons affected.
Except it doesn't.
The rest of us can't do anything. A basic rule of our law system, since the year one, involves "standing to sue." If we personally have not been injured or affected, the court will simply rule that we have no "standing to sue." And the vast majority of people who have a legitimate complaint....never do anything about it. This guarantees the abuses will go unchecked. So- the OP should by all means pursue every avenue open to them. The rest of us should move on.
Most people don't have the money to put into a court case that will probably be circular-filed by some judge without the brains to understand that his government is in the wrong.