Jesse Ventura Sues TSA Over Body Scans, Pat Downs

MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration on Monday, alleging full-body scans and pat-downs at airport checkpoints violate his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

Ventura is asking a federal judge in Minnesota to issue an injunction ordering officials to stop subjecting him to "warrantless and suspicionless" scans and body searches.

The lawsuit, which also names Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and TSA Administrator John Pistole as defendants, argues the searches are "unwarranted and unreasonable intrusions on Governor Ventura's personal privacy and dignity . and are a justifiable cause for him to be concerned for his personal health and well-being."

According to the lawsuit, Ventura received a hip replacement in 2008, and since then, his titanium implant has set off metal detectors at airport security checkpoints. The lawsuit said that prior to last November officials had used a non-invasive hand-held wand to scan his body as a secondary security measure.

But when Ventura set off the metal detector in November, he was instead subjected to a body pat-down and was not given the option of a scan with a hand-held wand or an exemption for being a frequent traveler, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit said the pat-down "exposed him to humiliation and degradation through unwanted touching, gripping and rubbing of the intimate areas of his body."

It claims that under TSA's policy, Ventura will be required to either go through a full-body scanner or submit to a pat-down every time he travels because he will always set off the metal detector.

Ventura, who was Minnesota governor from 1999 through 2002 and is now the host of the television program "Conspiracy Theory," did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.

Napolitano said in December that the new technology and the pat-downs were "objectively safer for our traveling public."

The U.S. Attorney's Office did not immediately return an e-mail message seeking comment Monday.

The TSA's website says there are nearly 500 full-body scanners in use at 78 airports. The scanners show a traveler's physical contours on a computer screen that's viewed in a private room. Faces aren't shown, and the person's identity is supposedly not known to the screener reviewing the images.

Not all travelers are selected to go through the scanners, but the TSA requires people who decline to submit to pat-downs that include checks of the inside of their thighs and buttocks.

Comments

[Andrew Louis Neale]

08:12 PM on 03/01/2011

Everyone Read 18 USC 241
"the right to travel freely within any of the states of the United States;"
also
18 USC § 242. Deprivation of rights under color of law
also
See 49 U.S.C. § 40103 : US Code - Section 40103: Sovereignty and use of airspace, section (a)(2): "A citizen of the United States has a public right of transit through the navigable airspace."

Government Officials are not immune to prosecution under the law, it is a constitutionally protected Right to travel, and you need not show ID in order to carry on that right. Also there is no law in the USA that requires a person to have Government Issued ID and many religions Strictly prohibit government ID because it would be serving two masters / taking the mark etc.. and You have a religious Exemption to having to have and carry a license or ID to carry out NON COMMERCIAL TRAVEL FOR PERSONAL ENJOYMENT OR NEED. see also Terry v. Ohio on your right to refuse a search

What they are doing is tantamount to declaring that everyone is guilty because they might be in possession of something that could cause the airplane they are about to travel on to fall from the sky.

Quote from Terry: “in justifying the particular intrusion the police officer must be able to point to specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant that intrusion.”

[Andrew Louis Neale]

08:22 PM on 03/01/2011

http://civilrights.uslegal.com/provisions-against-conspiracies-to-deprive-citizens-of-rights-18-u-s-c-%C2%A7-241/

[guysalsburg]

08:24 PM on 02/23/2011

TSA agents fail in the equal training dept. I flew from Orlando Florida to Ithaca NY and the TSA agents at the Ithaca airport must have attended a shorter training stint than the Orlando agents. I am on significant medications and bring them with me where ever I travel. One of my medications is in liquid form and the prescription bottle is a dark brown to protect it from the light (light can reduce the effectiveness of it). I had no problems passing through Orlando TSA with my meds, but the Ithaca TSA agents insisted that all liquids, to include my presciptions, be in clear containers and in a plastic bag with shampoos & such. They demanded I pour my prescription into a clear plastic container. I refused and demanded a supervisor. The supervisor demanded the same thing, but changed his mind when I demanded he check the TSA website and read the section concerning medications. It is getting bad when a person must risk a stroke or heart attack because the TSA does not like the prescription container.

[sdguy67]

09:49 PM on 01/28/2011

I honestly think that if TSA were viewed as actual trained law enforcement agents, many people would view these searches and scans differently. Unfortunately, the TSA is nothing more than a glorified rent-a-cop. Until they are going through a several month long academy like Police, Sheriffs, Border Patrol, ect, they will not get, nor do they deserve the respect their position should warrant

[jomuyo]

08:13 PM on 01/28/2011

I am glad that some one is finally doing this. This better not be a publicity stunt though.

[Lost Rights]

10:26 AM on 01/28/2011

"pat-downs were "objectively safer for our traveling public.""
What a total lie, ask again who is getting rich off the machines? Oh, yeah that guy who used to run things and now works for the machine makers.

Until they do the same to every crew member before entering the plane, the caters putting food on and off, luggage handlers, and everyone behind the gate; it is all an excerise in stupidity.

Only the shoe and underpants failed bombers have tried in the last few years. 911 was a failure to check the co-pilot, who are still not checked.

[jomuyo]

08:25 PM on 01/28/2011

I believe this is also wasteful spending. How much do these body scan machines cost anyway? I believe that they cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a piece. The TSA bought 500 of these already with many more on the way. Plus it is not clear that these machines can protect us from something like the Christmas Day Bomber. I recall a news report stating that the government conducted tests of these machines. The findings were so bad that they were classified top secret.

[Max Shaw]

05:31 PM on 01/27/2011

WTF is so special about this guy other than the fact he wrestled for a while?

[LiberalFromDenver]

06:41 PM on 01/27/2011

Navy SEAL, Governor of Minnesota, actor, author. He's a real straight shooter, too. No hidden agendas. Yeah, he's a little wacky, but he's unabashedly wacky, which I respect.

[StephenJK]

07:08 AM on 01/28/2011

x2

[PhilipB]

02:40 PM on 01/28/2011

x3

[jenjen1031]

04:47 PM on 01/27/2011

The public will take this garbage until they don't...Go Jesse! You cannot be totally free and totally safe. It's not possible.

[stargazer13]

04:40 PM on 01/27/2011

Jesse is not a threat to this country or her people !!

I am just saying ~~~

[SteveDenver]

12:43 PM on 01/27/2011

I generally like Jesse Ventura, but in this instance HE ALSO HAS THE RIGHT NOT TO FLY ON AN AIRPLANE.

[stargazer13]

04:37 PM on 01/27/2011

free to fly with out unwarranted searches ! do you really believe Ventura would be a threat to this country ?

[StephenJK]

07:08 AM on 01/28/2011

Yeah? I also have the right to not have my junk touched, scanned or otherwise.

[MrDOB]

09:46 AM on 01/27/2011

Thank god for people like JESSE VENTURA We need more patriots like this in our country!

[pseudonymous28]

11:20 PM on 01/26/2011

I love how barbara walters was literally aghast that someone would even think to sue DHS as if no human in history has ever sued the federal government. She seemed to be implying that in her view DHS is above the law.

[PhilipB]

03:57 PM on 01/26/2011

Ventura is doing what our elected representatives should have done.
Tyranny sometimes comes through the back door, disguised as something reasonable. It can be incremental, and done with stealth.
Now, you may approve of these enhanced procedures, but the checks and balances that were designed by the founders and that has served us well should be used here. TSA and the DHL need to prove in court as compelling interest with these enhanced procedures. To say that since other lesser security measures have been shown constitutional we should then slide onto the slippery slope with ever intrusive security without question or scrutiny is irresponsible at best.

Further, the expansion of governmental powers, the extension of them and even the legitimacy of one branch of the government overreaching their constitutional authority is not something to dismiss.

Frankly, it could go either way in a court decision. The important thing is that these enhanced and intrusive procedures should not be treated as fait accompli just because one branch of the governments says so.

[Charles Elk]

01:05 AM on 01/27/2011

Ventura is a true American patriot. F&F

[total frizz]

08:10 PM on 01/27/2011

I had a hip replacement in 1999 and for the first few years never had a problem going through airports. After 9/11 that changed. First it was just the wanding and then it became a pat-down -- every freaking time I flew. I am a 60-year old woman and 20-year USAF retiree who held top level security clearances. While I thought that was bad enough, it wasn't until my husband (a Viet Nam vet and AF retiree) lost his leg and was confined to a wheelchair that I realized how outrageously invasive this whole business had become. On one trip out of Denver International, my husband was subjected to three different screenings, including a pat down and a chemical wipedown of his prosthethis, that took us over 30 minutes. He was a frail old man in a wheelchair with a prosthethis instead of a left leg and was treated like a terrorist threat. This was the last straw for me. Unless these policies change, I won't fly again unless I absolutely have no choice.

[Lost Rights]

10:34 AM on 01/28/2011

Thank you for sharing, and agreeing that a Flying Boycott is the way to go. Its all about the money the machine companies make.
We should be able to show our VA card, which has our picture, and be passed through. Do what the Israel airports do, be selective!
F&F

[PhilipB]

02:36 PM on 01/28/2011

Hi total frizz.
Thank you for sharing your experience, and it shows that these procedures define intrusive. I have heard some try to deny this, or manipulate commonly understood meanings, but the fact is these procudures are invasive and have constitutional implications. There is also credible reasons to be dubious on efficacy, and dubious motivations and conflicts of interest in the policy itself that deserves scrutiny.
Certainly, the letter by the President of the APA (allied Piolots Assoc), who vehemently opposed to scanners and patdowns, said tof the policy"...does nothing to improve national security." alerted me to the issues here.
I find the APA credible and reasonable. For more you can read his letter here
http://aviationblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/11/apa-president-advises-against.html

[MaxPowerXP]

10:49 AM on 01/26/2011

Probably afraid that that's how they'll activate the fluoridated water for their sinister mind control technology

[stargazer13]

04:47 PM on 01/27/2011

fluoridate­d water is poison ! soooooo when was the last time you were checked for heavy metal poisoning? never ? well then you may want to check your own levels

bet ya ~~ you too will be surprised ?

[StephenJK]

07:11 AM on 01/28/2011

Mmmmm, oh yeah, I love the taste of poison in my tap water. Makes me feel GREAT, too. I try to get my gallon a day in like any good American. Hope you're getting your share, too.

[Reiner-von-Sinn]

07:24 AM on 01/26/2011

Try refusing to submit to a pat down / body scan. probable cause? Try bringing a 4 oz bottle of shampoo or mouthwash aboard. Contraband? Illegal? When it's seized make a claim for restitution. What are your fourth amendment rights?

You are suspect.

You have no appeal.

[Lost Rights]

10:39 AM on 01/28/2011

The 4th amendment is one of our lost rights, imho. When we are held hostage because we need to fly somewhere, and cant avoid it, it shouldn't mean we can be abused (usually by foreigners they hire who know nothing about the US constitution, which is the idea.)

Did you know that no screening corporation may apply for TSA contracts, unless they already have one; eliminating anyone who wants to compete.

[sjcarl]

11:42 PM on 01/25/2011

He'd also sue if his family went down in a crash caused by terrorists.

[Toot Is A Hoot]

12:14 AM on 01/26/2011

Only if there were negligence. This case can resolve the negligence issue by declaring the searches unreasonable and therefore Unconstitutional.