So DHS has yet to provide supporting, scientifically valid studies in response to the 2011 GAO report? What have they been waiting for? Oh, right: Congress has been funding SPOT anyway...

And someone from Congress finally read the 2011 GAO report? Why do we even have a GAO if Congress more or less ignores it?

I have to put the blame on Congress here for once again failing to make responsible use of taxpayer dollars. SPOT should have been validated before $1B was allocated to implementing it nationwide, and SPOT in its current form should certainly not have continued receiving funds after the 2011 GAO report was released.

Pathetic, isn't it? I miss the Fourth Amendment.

"Waterboarding" and "extraordinary rendition" spring to mind.

While I get your overall point it is not completely ludicrous:
http://rt.com/usa/texas-tsa-bill-patdown-709/

Other states thought of it also. I get the fact some of it is a protest and whatnot but there are plenty of state cops and small town constables is this country willing to stare down the feds...

And why is "being an illegal alien" a problem for the SPOTniks but not for issuing SIDA IDs?

Heck, the TSA hires felons...

Passengers with those things *might* be "bad people" who think "bad thoughts" that might include thinking "badly" about the TSA. So they're valid harassment targets to bully back into conformance.

.....

OK, I agree with at least part of your point: Nobody is going to jail for merely asking questions, especially when the person being asked is under no legal obligation to answer. But somebody should pay a price for this huge waste of scarce government resources. You and I are paying the bill for this nonsense, so why aren't you as bothered as I am?

Bruce

Charles Graner served six-and-a-half years of a ten-year sentence for "just following orders" in a program authorized and funded by Congress - and is still on parole.

Well, it's highly improbable indeed for run-of-the-mill TSA screeners at least and unfortunately probably even for their present and past management. For other current or former government employees -- including some on FT -- there is some risk of being jailed abroad for violations of law committed by those who were hired/trained/employed in a program authorized & funded by Congress and operating under official government guidance.

If I were to come across a job applicant who mentioned BDO/SPOT junk (or anything like it) in their resume or interview, I'd really like to get to know the mind of that con-artist before showing them the door.

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The military isn't authorized and funded by Congress? Same as the TSA?

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Except that the abuse at Abu Ghraib *was* authorized, and funded by Congress. Graner was just one of the most convenient scapegoats.

Just like the average SPOTnik would be the most convenient scapegoat when the "Behavioral Detection" nonsense finally falls apart.

"Teams" like the "Mexicutioners" don't exist in a vacuum.

Nor CBP since millions of illegals are in country and nothing is done about it.