Originally Posted by
WillCAD
Always nice to see a court reaffirm something that pretty much everyone other than people who want to violate your rights knows, understands, and acknowledges.
I hope that many other TSA practices that obviously violate peoples' rights will soon be struck down via lawsuits like this. Of course, the agency is approaching the end of its second decade of existence and very few such suits have ever gotten far enough to be argued before a court, much less decided upon, but I guess fifteen or twenty years late is better than never at all.
1st Amendment suits are a more cut and dry statutory yardstick. In many cases, there doesnt even have to be an intent of malice. Other concepts like the Administrative Search doctrine, and the way the SOP covers searches and the like, are much more murky. As long as the TSO adheres to the concept of resolving an alarming object/possible threat item, they are going to win most court battles rather quickly. The legal team for TSA/DHS are fairly good at litigating in cases like this. I would think that for a 1st Amendment challenge, they would really push, unless they think the case against them is a slam dunk win that is teflon.