Transportation Security Administration - Criticisms - Screening Procedures – 2010 To Present

Screening Procedures – 2010 To Present

After the November 2010 initiation of enhanced screening procedures of all airline passengers and flight crews, the US Airline Pilots Association issued a press release stating that pilots should not submit to Advanced Imaging Technology because of unknown radiation risks and calling for strict guidelines for pat downs of pilots, including evaluation of their fitness for duty after the pat down, given stressful nature of pat downs. Two airline pilots filed suit against the procedures. Additionally, retired police officer Robert Yamin stated that the pat downs are "fake" and are not an effective way to search for contraband as they do not conform to proper search procedures.

A number of publicized incidents created a public outcry against the invasiveness of the pat-down techniques, in which women’s breasts and the genital areas of all passengers are patted. Concerns have also been raised as to the constitutionality of the new screening methods, with organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union leading the opposition. As of April 2011, at least six lawsuits have been filed for violation of the Fourth Amendment. George Washington University law professor Jeffrey Rosen has supported this view, saying "there's a strong argument that the TSA's measures violate the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.".

Some highly publicized incidents around the screening procedures included:

• Passenger John Tyner refused a pat-down in a videotaped encounter, famously telling security personnel "If you touch my junk I'm gonna have you arrested." This phrase was commonly paraphrased as "Don't touch my junk".
• A breast cancer survivor was forced to remove her prosthetic breast.
• A bladder cancer survivor had his urostomy bag seal broken during a pat-down, leaving him soaked in urine.
• A woman with a hip replacement was singled out for pat down.
• A rape survivor was distressed by a pat-down that she described as feeling like being sexually assaulted again.
• A 3-year-old child was distressed by surrendering her teddy bear and being subject to a pat-down.
• An eight-year-old boy was patted down on his genital area.
• A woman claims that she was selected for additional screening by a male TSA worker for the size of her breasts.
• A woman claims to have been harassed and detained inordinately by multiple TSA agents over a container of saved human breast milk, and was told by a police officer that the TSA agents targeted her due to her previous complaints.
• A woman claims that she was patted down because the body scanner revealed her sanitary towel.
• A woman was arrested, strip searched, and charged with assault when she argued with several TSA agents over trying to pass applesauce through security for her elderly mother, despite being told by another TSA agent that it was permitted to bring the applesauce on the flight.
• Actress and model Donna D'Errico claims that a TSA agent selected her to go through an extra search and justified his choice by saying "Because you caught my eye".
• Former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura, who had set off metal detectors at airport security checkpoints due to having a titanium implant from a hip replacement, filed a lawsuit against both the TSA and Department of Homeland Security in January 2011 after he was subject to pat-downs. Ventura's attorney stated he did not want monetary compensation but that the TSA end future pat-downs on him and an acknowledgement that his rights were violated. However, in November 2011, Ventura's lawsuit was dismissed.
• On May 7, 2011 an 8-month-old baby was patted down at Kansas City International Airport after traces of explosive material were detected on his stroller.
• On June 26, 2011 during a pat-down, a 95-year-old leukemia patient in a wheelchair was forced to remove her diaper.
• On December 21, 2011, the TSA in Las Vegas confiscated a cupcake packed in a glass jar from a Massachusetts woman, Rebecca Hains, who had been permitted to bring the same cupcake on a flight from Boston to Las Vegas the previous week. Hains said, "The TSA at Logan Airport said the cupcakes looked delicious. ... But in Las Vegas, they were dangerous. They shouldn’t be delicious in one part of the country and a security threat in the other." Two weeks later, the TSA responded on their blog, writing that the cupcake "had a thick layer of icing inside a jar. ... In general, cakes and pies are allowed in carry-on luggage". Hains wrote to The Consumerist that "the TSA post was slightly misleading" about the amount of icing in the jar. Including a photo of the same kind of cupcake from the same bakery, she added, "If the TSA says cakes and cupcakes are safe to fly, there should be no caveat saying, 'oh, um, unless it's conforming to the shape of a container, like a glass jar!'"
• Senator Rand Paul missed a flight after he refused to undergo a pat down after an anomaly was spotted during a TSA body scan. The TSA agents would not allow him to attempt another body scan. He re-booked on another flight and went through the scanner without incident.
• A Hawaii traveler was not allowed onto her flight until she demonstrated that the breast pump she had in her luggage was real to a TSA agent. The woman subsequently was forced to use the device in the woman's bathroom rather than in a more private place, an ordeal she described as making her feel "embarrassed and humiliated." The TSA has apologized and has said that the agent in question will receive remedial training.
• In March 2012, a three year old in a wheelchair was selected for an invasive pat down. The child was visibly trembling and asking for comfort from his parents, but the TSA agents refused to allow the child's parents near him. The incident was recorded on video and became viral within hours.
• In April 2012, a four year old girl was subjected to a full body pat-down after she hugged her grandmother during processing at an airport security checkpoint. TSA agents suspected that the grandmother had passed a handgun to the girl during the brief hug. The 4 year old's treatment by TSA agents allegedly caused her great distress.
• On April 18, 2012 an elderly couple reported that they were groped by TSA screeners and robbed of $300 during the incident. Omer Petti, a retired Air Force Major, said that he and companion Madge Woodward were taken to a private room and suffered humiliating searches. When released they discovered that $300 was missing from their bin. TSA responded that the checkpoint video was too blurry to reveal who stole their money.
• Also in April 2012, Congressman Francisco Canseco stated he was assaulted in the San Antonio Airport by a TSA agent. Conseco stated that the agent attempted to grab his genitals. In response, Conseco moved the agents hand away. Conseco says that the incident demonstrates changes in airport security are needed.
• In April 2012, a seven-year-old with cerebral palsy was singled out for a pat down, and then the family was called back to the screening area almost an hour after getting through security because the TSA could not determine how to properly screen the person. Subsequently, the family missed their flight. The father of the 7 year old referred to the TSA agents as "rude" and said that the agent started yelling at him when he asked that she introduce herself to his daughter to make her feel more comfortable.
• In May 2012, a Colorado teenager with Type 1 diabetes said she was forced to go through the scanner, despite having a doctor's note saying that the insulin pump she wore should not go through the machine. During the security screening, the pump was broken, which the passenger blames on TSA agents who had not been properly trained and educated about how to deal with people using pumps like hers.
• Also in May 2012, an 18-month old girl was pulled off of a flight after she was misidentified as being on the no-fly list.
• Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger received a pat down in May 2012. Freelance reporters covering the incident noted that the TSA agents "did not seem to know who Kissinger was."
• A double amputee veteran who lost his legs fighting in Afghanistan received a pat down that involved agents lifting the man out of his chair "to make sure he did not have anything under his torso." This incident was witnessed and reported by conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, who described it as "heartbreaking."
• The TSA accused a female traveler of "assault" after the woman demonstrated her pat down procedure on a TSA supervisor. The female traveler was subsequently arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery. The traveler, a former TSA employee, claims that she "did not touch the supervisor as intrusively as she was touched."
• A traveler who was attempting to transport his grandfather's ashes to Indianapolis had an agent at a Florida airport open the container marked "human remains" and spilling up to a third of the ashes on the terminal floor. The agent reportedly started "laughing" after the spill. The traveler is demanding an apology from the agency.
• A deaf Louisville traveler was harassed by the TSA due to his condition, and was referred to by agents as a "dumb deafie."
• In July 2012, a North Texas traveler alleged that his wife was stripped searched by the TSA due to the feeding tube in her stomach. TSA agents also physically handled the tube and swabbed it, which put the woman "at risk of infection."
• In October 2012, a breast cancer survivor complained about her treatment during a security check at TSA. She claimed that the pat down made her "feel violated" and that she later "became angry" over what she had to go through, feeling that she had been singled out because of her recent medical procedures. The passenger told ABC that she was never asked whether or not she wanted the pat down to be done in private, as is TSA procedure.
• In October 2012, a woman dying of leukemia told ABC News she had been embarrassed by the TSA during an "end of life" trip to Hawaii. The traveler stated that the TSA agents opened her saline bag, contaminating the liquid inside, and denied her request for a private screening. Additionally, the agents forced the traveler to pull back bandages that held her feeding tubes in place.
• In November 2012, a woman named Maggie uploaded a video to YouTube describing her experience with the enhanced pat downs. She described the experience as "emotionally and sexually" abusive, especially as she had to undergo the process three times over a supposed "protrusion" an agent found "between her legs."
• In November 2012, a Maine traveler described a TSA screening as humiliating and is calling upon the agency to give more training to agents so that they may properly address people with medical conditions. The woman has large calcium deposits throughout her body. Agents demanded that she show them she was suffering a disease, which she felt was inappropriate.
• In November 2012, US Representative Ralph Hall of Texas published an account of his grandniece having her breasts exposed by TSA agents during a pat down. The TSA blamed the girls loose fitting sundress for the "accidental" exposure in their internal report, and took nearly two years to release that report about the incident.

The American Civil Liberties Union has called the scanners a "virtual strip search." United States House of Representatives by Ron Paul (R-Texas) introduced the American Traveler Dignity Act (H.R.6416). Two separate Internet campaigns promoted a “National Opt-Out Day,” the day before Thanksgiving, urging travelers to “opt out” of the scanner and insist on a pat down. US. Representative John L. Mica (R-Fla.), the incoming chair of the United States House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, called for refining TSA procedures and for airports to consider private screeners. Rand Paul, who had previously been detained by the TSA, has called for the entire program to be eliminated and will be introducing legislation to do so. Georgia Congressman Paul Broun has called for TSA chief John Pistole to resign, saying Pistole "has been totally incompetent in his position." Broun also called for DHS head Janet Napolitano to resign.

On November 17, TSA chief John Pistole defended the TSA's screening policies in a Senate committee hearing, and was quoted as saying "I’m not going to change the policy". TSA also promised to correct issues brought to their attention.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she personally would like to avoid a pat down but said United States President Barack Obama administration officials were responding to terrorists "getting more creative about what they do to hide explosives in, you know, crazy things like underwear." President Obama said he had asked his counter terrorism team if the measures were "absolutely necessary."

In May 2011, the Texas House of Representatives passed a bill that would make it illegal for Transportation Security Administration officials to touch a person's genitals when carrying out a patdown. The bill failed in the Senate after the Department of Justice threatened to make Texas a no-fly zone if the legislation passed.

In March 2012, technology entrepreneur Jonathan Corbett posted a video on YouTube explaining a simple way to bypass the TSA's screening procedures. He subsequently tested it at two airports with a metal carrying case, and managed to get through security with no issue. Corbett concluded that the program is "a giant fraud." The TSA subsequently stated that Corbett's video was "a crude attempt to allegedly show how to circumvent TSA screening procedures." while at the same time "cautioning" media outlets from covering the issue, stating that Corbett "should not be aided by the mainstream media." Corbett has since presented his video to Congress, in conjunction with Freedom To Travel USA, and filed a lawsuit with the United States Supreme Court, asking them to judge the constitutionality of the procedures.

The TSA themselves have been noted for stating that "proper procedures were followed" in many of the aforementioned highly publicized incidents, or otherwise stated that the claims made in the initial stories could not be verified during their analysis of security footage. This stance has been the subject of additional criticism, as the TSA does not make such footage available for independent review.