Happy holidays! ACLU asks for feedback on "pat-down" searches [priv]

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Aggressive Searches Pat-down Searches/Sexual Harassment  at 
the Airport
Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2004 17:44:00 -0500
From: Barry Steinhardt <bsteinhardt () aclu org>
To: declan McCullagh <declan () well com>

Declan,

A September 2004 TSA directive granting airport security screeners broad
leeway to conduct "pat-down" searches has led to numerous reports of sexual
harassment and abuse.

Victims -- particularly women-- are reporting that they are not being
offered private searches or searches by screeners of the same sex, and that
"private" searches are being conducted behind screens that provide no
privacy. Passengers are reporting rough, rude, and humiliating manhandling
and groping of their breasts and crotch areas, demeaning sexual comments,
and being forced to remove business jackets in full view of crowds, despite
the fact that it is a widespread convention in our society for women to
wear only bras or other undergarments underneath such jackets.

The ACLU is assessing possible responses to this policy. In doing so, it is
extremely helpful for us to gain a sense of the kinds of abuses that are
taking place. If list members have experienced a problem with pat-down
searches at airport security, they can help us end this problem by
reporting their story at:

https://www.aclu.org/Feedback/Feedback.cfm?R=58

For more information on the abuses, Politiech readers might want to look at
http://www.aclu.org/Privacy/Privacy.cfm?ID=17104&c=39, where we have
collected many of the news stories.

All the best on the new year,


Barry Steinhardt

Director
Technology and Liberty Project
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
www.aclu.org


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