(San Diego Union-Tribune) The Transportation Security Administration says airline passengers won't get out of body imaging screening or pat-downs based on their religious beliefs.
TSA chief John Pistole told the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday that passengers who refuse to go through a full-body scanner machine and reject a pat-down won't be allowed to board, even if they turned down the in-depth screening for religious reasons.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center is among several civil liberties groups suing the TSA in federal court to stop use of the full-body scanners. Their lawsuit says the machines are overly intrusive and violate civil rights, and that it is questionable whether they can detect powdered explosives such as those used by a passenger in last year's attempted Christmas airliner bombing. They also question whether the machines pose a health risk.
Several senators asked Pistole to address public criticism of the body-imaging machines and more intrusive pat-downs the agency is using. Pistole said the tougher screening is necessary, and that the FDA has found the imaging machines to be safe. Going through the whole-body scanning machine is similar to getting about three minutes of the radiation that passengers receive at 30,000 feet on a typical flight, he said.
There is special requirement by CAIR for female Muslim travelers. TSA have different pat-down procedure for them. These preferential treatment is call discrimination for non-Muslims. Since CAIR has an immense strings to change TSA method of screening, it seems hypocritical for TSA to give rigorous pat-downs on nuns, the physically handicap, children, and the elderly.
The TSA director is an idiot to think we are only concern about exposure to radiation during a full body scan. Besides radiation, there are scruplous TSA employees who have abused their authority on behalf of the passenger. That is what people fear the most. We have seen reports in the news showing the shennanigans of TSA employees and body scanners. As stated, this intrusive pat-down procedure violates our priavcy rights and the 4th Amendment.
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