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Airport Security: Once You Go Through, There's No Turning Back
On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided that once a passenger places an item on the x-ray machine's conveyor belt, or walks through a metal detector, they can not refuse further searching.According to Christopher Elliot, "The decision involved a Hawaii airline passenger, Daniel Kuualoha Aukai, who was arrested for crystal methamphetamine possession before boarding a scheduled flight to Kona from Honolulu in 2003."
Mr. Aukai was flagged for not having identification and pulled aside for subsequent searching. He then claimed he was late for his flight (which was true) and left the designated search area bound for the gate. He was stopped, and forced into a search which revealed drug paraphernalia.
In this situation, I think the court's decision is correct. If you've been pulled aside for whatever reason, you can't just get up and walk out. If you could, the search would be useless, as all those who did not have anything illegal on them would comply, while anyone carrying something illegal would simply walk away. This ruling needs to exist for the searches to do any good.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mark Aug 14th 2007 3:43AM
you still have to have probable or just cause. even law-abiders refuse searches on principle, why should they be punished? I've refused a search several times based on my rights
john Oct 2nd 2007 12:03AM
MARK, YOU ARE WRONG! I WORK FOR TSA AND ACCORDING TO THE 4TH AMENDMENT ITS A MATTER 'IMPLIED CONSENT'. ONCE YOU DECIDE TO PUT YOUR BAGGAGE OR YOURSELF THROUGH SCREENING ,NOBODY IS PUTTING A GUN TO YOUR HEAD, MIND YOU,ITS ALL OVER,ITS YOUR DECISION. ITS LIKE YOU DECIDING TO ENTER A BANK AND ROB IT YOU PAY THE CONSEQUENCES,NOBODY MAKES YOU DO ANYTHING UNTIL YOU CROSS THE LINE,NOBODY IS PUSHING YOU ACROSS THE LINE. TAKE A BUS NEXT TIME IF YOU CANT 'HANDLE' IT!!