"The bill clearly states that an agent is exempt from prosecution as long as a constitutionally sanctioned federal law directs them to perform the invasive, indecent groping searches-including touching breasts, sexual organs and buttocks," noted State Representative David Simpson (R-Longview), the bill's author.
"Instead of threatening to shut down flights in Texas, why doesn't the TSA just show us their statutory authority to grope or ogle our private parts?" asked Simpson.
"All that HB 1937 does is require that the TSA abide by the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution," Simpson continued. "We aren't even prohibiting the pat-downs, per se. We're just saying you can't go straight to third base. You have to have a reason-you have to have probable cause-before groping someone's sexual organs."
Aside from the face that Representative Simpson doesn't seem to understand what third base is, his heart is in the right place. The random aspect of the pat downs flies right in the face of the fourth amendment to the US constitution, and someone needs to challenge it in court. Contrary to what the DOJ would have you believe, the Supremacy clause isn't relevant in this case. What is relevant is that the TSA policies violate the US Constitution and they are just that, policies. Not law. You are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures without warrant under the fourth amendment, and I have yet to see a single TSA agent with even probable cause, much less a warrant. No, in fact, in their attempt to be 'fair' and random, they fly in the face of the Constitution. Where is the ACLU?
I kind of wish the legislature would have let this play out. There is no way the TSA would have cancelled all flights in and out of Texas. Our economy is way too big for them to actually do that before a major election. It would hurt the national economy and the current administrations facade far too severely. But oh well. We already backed down on threat of an empty, constitutionally ignorant, letter from the DOJ.
As an aside, has anyone heard of a single case (even one) where the pat downs actually caught a bad guy? Because every time I've heard of air terror being thwarted post TSA, it's been the efforts of civilians on the plane, and occasionally US Marshalls. The TSA has nothing to do with it. What have they prevented?
