Boggie Dog

So charging someone with a crime even though they are innocent is insignificant.

Your statement is disturbing on so many levels.

SWCPHX

Why, mistakes happen in every profession?

Guilty people go free (or are never arrested, charged, or tried) at a far higher rate, is that insignificant in your opinion?

Planes, trains, and automobiles crash, does the insignificant low probability that it will happen to you prevent you from using any of those means of travel?

Personally I would worry far more about a loved one contracting an infection and dying while being treated in a hospital far more than a loved ever being innocent of a crime and rung through the justice system, but that's just me.

Why is there no panic and mass anxiety over infections caused by hospitals killing almost 100K people a year? And that's just infections! What about other mistakes?

DevilDog438

What does that have to do with the topic at hand, or the forum topic as a whole?

VH-RMD

because that is a biological risk based on a multitude of factors, unlike an abuse of power...

greentips

Operating word here is "irrational." Everyone, when confronted by someone who has the power to take your freedom or possessions, has a degree of discomfort and fear.

Our country and our protections were based (past tense) on the fact that our founding fathers, notably Adams and Jefferson abhorred the concept that an innocent man, any innocent man, could be called to answer for a crime.

There is no such thing as a "statistically small and insignificant" human rights violation. One violation alone is a necessary and sufficient violation to be considered significant.

essxjay

Feel free to approach the American Psychiatric Association with your concerns, but I'm pretty sure that they've already addressed the phenomenon of paranoia exhaustively.

Furthermore, police checkpoints and cops in general make a lot of people justifiably nervous or angry these days, despite your denigrations.

I'm sure other people with other social sensitivities and predilections *do* panic and fuss about these public health issues. So? There's only so much detail an individual can attend to; air travel issues just happen to grab and unite a group of individuals in this particular time and place on the Internet. Don't think it's worthy of your time? Fine. Move on. (Not saying that as a mod but as a general member who just happens to be liberty-seeking agent.)

Boggie Dog

I would much rather see a person who is suspected to be guilty to go free than have one innocent person prosecuted and jailed.

I have to wonder though how a person can be guilty before they are tried?

Here in Texas several people imprisoned for years have been released after learning that evidence had been withheld or false testimony was given by Law Enforcement. I don't consider things like that insignificant.

If we used just part of the monies wasted on TSA we could probably fix some of the dangers of other forms of transportation.

greggwiggins

"That it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer, is a Maxim that has been long and generally approved."
--Benjamin Franklin

knotyeagle

For those "anything for security" people who have very short memories (and attention spans).

http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_tulia.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/...in575291.shtml

N965VJ

Too many people in this country have the "I have nothing to hide, so why should I worry?" thought process.

My reaction is a mixture of boredom and annoyance, well-honed by 8 years of dealing with the TSA. "Fear, panic, and hyperanxiety" are not a component of my emotional matrix in these situations.

Global_Hi_Flyer

And you would be wrong. Hang out on some of the private pilot forums - people have been harassed by cops near small, general aviation airports. It happens on a daily basis.

So would you, or would you not, support the kind of dragnet that Washington, DC was running where every car trying to enter certain neighborhoods was stopped, the people inside interrogated, and if they did not live in the area were turned away? Legally driving on the streets.

I don't know how you can differentiate between her case, the I-10 checkpoints, or what happened to a FT member at IAH.

SWCPHX

Because your average FT member is more likely to wind up in a hospital for treatment and face infection than ever have their civil rights trampled upon.

They run to another country (usually Mexico) who won't extradite to states that have capital punishment for certain crimes. In many inner city areas, witnesses are afraid to come forward and talk to the cops let alone testify for fear of retribution.

And as troubling as that may be, what percentage of those people were career criminals to begin with? I'll submit that most of those instances involve career criminals who had been through the system several times before. I'm not losing much sleep over them.

Agree 100%!

Pure racism, absolutely disgusting. I find it ridiculous that any prosecutor would take a case to court based solely on the testimony of the officer with such scant evidence. I find it ridiculous that any jury of 12 people would convict on such scant evidence. I think is more an example of racism than deliberate trampling of civil rights.

jbdk

If I remember right, the checkpoints within 100 miles of the border can only ascertain if you are an US citizen or not.

Questions about where you are coming from, going, or drugs do not have to be answered. Just answer, " I am an US citizen. I am free to go now?" Any other question can be answered, " I respectfully refuse to answer any questions other than those pertaining to my US citizenship."

Of course, depending on if the agent is having a bad day or not will determine how much of an inconvenience he or she will create for you...

Boggie Dog

I suggest everytime a person goes to an airport to board a flight that they have had their civil rights trampled upon!

SWCPHX

Harassed or just asked how they're doing and being talked to by an officer? I would submit that if you had a plane parked in a hangar at that facility you would appreciate an attentive patrol officer checking on people that he doesn't recognize. I went to more than a few breakins of aircraft and airport facilities and everytime it happened it was a very high dollar loss. Does it happen repeatedly with the same pilot and the same officer or once the officer recognizes them and talks to them once is the next encounter a simple wave hello?



What is the context? Is the area that people were driving into high crime, high drug, or something similar? Were the police turning away people who couldn't articulate a legitimate reason to drive through the neighborhood or anybody and everybody that didn't have an address in the neighborhood? Did the community members support the police checkpoint? That's a big key to me! Phoenix Police could turn me away from Maryvale or South Phoenix any day of the week since I don't live in those neighborhoods and I wouldn't care one bit. And if they're turning me away, they're probably keeping out a few rival gang members or others who have no business there who may be looking to start trouble.


I think what happened at IAH was over the top stupid on the part of TSA and HPD as was the case at PHL. I still believe that the OP overreacted ridiculously to a checkpoint on I-10 from which she had nothing to fear or hide. I liked what another poster said, their reaction has been reduced to boredom and slight annoyance. The same way that I feel about them.

Fair enough Boggie. Do you also see racism, sexism, religious discrimination, or any other form of discrimination under every rock and bush?

I am annoyed and mad over just about every asinine thing that TSA does but I don't see it rising to the level of the trampling of civil rights.