TSA Revenge

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

Amy Alkon is an advice columnist and blogger who is just one of many people who has had a horrifying and traumatizing experience going through airport security lately. After being pulled aside for an "enhanced" search, she found the process to be so invasive and so in violation of her own rights that she was left sobbing. She wrote about the experience on her blog, noting that she didn't think the search was just "invasive" in the emotional sense, but flat out physically invasive:

Nearing the end of this violation, I sobbed even louder as the woman, FOUR TIMES, stuck the side of her gloved hand INTO my #######, through my pants. Between my #######. She really got up there. Four times. Back right and left, and front right and left. In my #######. Between my #######. I was shocked -- utterly unprepared for how she got the side of her hand up there. It was government-sanctioned sexual assault.

Upon leaving, still sobbing, I yelled to the woman, "YOU RAPED ME." And I took her name to see if I could file sexual assault charges on my return. This woman, and all of those who support this system deserve no less than this sort of unpleasant experience, and from all of us.

After investigating whether or not she could file sexual assault charges, and being told that this was probably a non-starter, she instead wrote about the experience, and named the TSA agent who she dealt with: Thedala Magee. Alkon felt that if people can't stop these kinds of searches, they should at least be able to name the TSA agents who are doing them.

Magee responded by lawyering up and threatening Alkon with defamation and asking for $500,000 and the removal of the blog post.

Alkon, with the help of lawyer Marc Randazza, has now responded, refusing to back down. Both letters are embedded below, but here are a few key quotes:

Your client aggressively pushed her fingers into my client’s vulva. I am certain that she did not expect to find a bomb there. She did this to humiliate my client, to punish her for exercising her rights, and to send a message to others who might do the same. It was absolutely a sexual assault, perpetrated in order to exercise power over the victim. We agree with Ms. Alkon’s characterization of this crime as “rape,” and so would any reasonable juror.

Furthermore, even if your client did not actually sexually assault my client, Ms. Alkon’s statements to and about Ms. Magee would still be protected by the First Amendment. The word “rape” itself has been the subject of defamation cases by far more sympathetic Plaintiffs than your client. In Gold v. Harrison, 962 P.2d 353 (Haw. 1998), cert denied, 526 U.S. 1018 (1999), the Hawai’i Supreme Court held that a defendant’s characterization of his neighbors’ seeking an easement in his backyard as “raping [the defendant]” was not defamatory. This speech was protected as rhetorical hyperbole. Of course, we need not seek out Hawai’i case law in order to debunk your unsupportable claims. Rhetorical hyperbole has a strong history of favorable treatment in defamation actions. See Greenbelt Cooperative Pub. ####'n v. Bresler, 398 U.S. 6, 14 (1970). This doctrine acknowledges our First Amendment right to express ourselves, even when employing literary license. Accordingly, even if your client’s actions were not “rape,” Ms. Alkon had every right to characterize them as such.

No free woman should endure what your client did to Ms. Alkon. Fortunately, Ms. Alkon is capable of recognizing injustice, and for the good of us all, she had the courage to speak out on this matter of public concern of the highest order. After Magee’s assault on Ms. Alkon’s ####### and dignity, Ms. Alkon exercised her First Amendment right to recount this incident to others in person and through her blog. This was not only her right -- it was her responsibility.

I honestly don't know if this reaches the "technical" definition of rape, but I am massively troubled, if not horrified, by the idea that a woman who feels sexually assaulted based on what happened above ends up being threatened for saying she felt violated. Talk about adding insult to injury.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110906/11065015824/tsa-agent-threatens-woman-with-defamation-demands-500k-calling-intrusive-search-rape.shtml

[Obama 2012 1,714]

TSA agents aren't human. They are are the start of modern Nazi soldiers doing the government's bidding.

Remember, Nazis were only "following orders" just as these goons do for this government and its criminal organizations.

Every TSA agent should have their face and name associated with all know sex-offenders. There's not a damn thing they can sue for either. They are federal employees. They are bought and paid for with tax dollars, so ones ability to criticize them based on the first amendment stands strong and true.

[mawilson 2,133]

I sincerely hope Ms Magee is convicted and put on a sex offenders list for the rest of her life.

I will donate money to Amy Alkon and anyone else who's willing to fight the TSA.

[Harsh_77 716]

Well now you will have to fight a unioun they are Fedral and Unioun employees.

[slim 1,514]

I still don't get it.

If you fly, you might get touched. If you don't like that, don't fly. Don't cry about it after the fact.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

I still don't get it.

If you fly, you might get touched. If you don't like that, don't fly. Don't cry about it after the fact.

It's government sponsored sexual assault.

It's not like there's an alternative airline you can choose. Unless of course you can afford to buy your own private jet and fly from a private airfield.

[damulag 26]

ROSS COUNTY JAIL

Prisoner pat-down misses gun hidden in body cavity

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Move over, Bond girls.

A Ross County jail inmate hid a gun so well that not even the guards who did an extensive pat-down found it.

The Cleveland woman hid a loaded handgun inside her body and smuggled it all the way to her jail cell, where it accidentally fired when she was trying to hide it.

"While in the holding cell, she removed a .25-caliber semiautomatic from her vaginal cavity," Chillicothe Police Capt. Tom Hewitt said yesterday.

Victoria Lundy, 41, hid the gun in the toilet-paper holder. It fell to the floor and discharged. The bullet lodged in the ceiling as guards scrambled to quickly recover the weapon, Hewitt said.

Lundy was arrested early Monday morning after Chillicothe police officers were called to a Warner Street home on a report of shots being fired.

Lundy, who authorities say was driving a car seen speeding away after the shooting, was arrested on charges of driving without a license and driving under suspension.

Lundy�s booking at the Ross County jail was anything but normal. Hewitt said after a patdown was conducted, Lundy was seen trying to swallow some Vicodin pills and began tussling with officers attempting to stop her. She was sent to a holding cell away from the general population.

Hewitt said the small handgun that Lundy hid from police was the one they suspect was used at the Warner Street house.

Authorities say they plan to charge Lundy, who remains in a Chillicothe hospital recovering from taking the pills, with carrying a concealed weapon, conveyance of a firearm into a detention facility, discharging a firearm into a habitat and having a weapon while under disability. The last charge relates to the fact that Lundy was already under indictment for a drug offense in Cuyahoga County, Hewitt said.

Authorities didn�t suspect anything out of the ordinary when they searched Lundy, Hewitt said.

"Apparently, they felt she was acting strange, but it wasn�t until the shot rang out that they realized she had a gun," he said.

Hewitt said the incident won�t likely change jail policy.

"It�s the first time I�ve heard of it in my 25 years" he said. "There�s not a whole lot you can do. You can�t do body-cavity searches without a search warrant."

The pat-down of Lundy did include a search of the crotch area, said Assistant Jail Administrator Capt. Tim Holman of the Ross County sheriff�s office.

"It�s crazy, but it�s made us a little more aware," Holman said.

[Pooky 3,343]

Prisoner pat-down misses gun hidden in body cavity

I suspect an airport scanner would have detected it, something the prison does not appear to have.

[slim 1,514]

It's government sponsored sexual assault.

It's not like there's an alternative airline you can choose. Unless of course you can afford to buy your own private jet and fly from a private airfield.

If you don't like something the government does then petition for redress. Don't participate in the system you don't agree with and then cry about it later. TSA patdowns are part of flying commercial airlines. If you don't like the TSA patdowns then call your congressman, senator, etc., and get them to vote to remove TSA sanctions from airports.

This is all trickledown from the Patriot Act. Remember a few years ago before we had a DHS? Before it was acceptable to do this sort of thing? Were we unsafe then? Did females get their vaginal cavities searched before passenger airline flights?

I'm tired of americans crying about how bad the government is yet doing nothing to change it.

[mawilson 2,133]

Were we unsafe then?

Apparently so, if 9/11 is any indicator.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

If you don't like something the government does then petition for redress. Don't participate in the system you don't agree with and then cry about it later. TSA patdowns are part of flying commercial airlines. If you don't like the TSA patdowns then call your congressman, senator, etc., and get them to vote to remove TSA sanctions from airports.

This is all trickledown from the Patriot Act. Remember a few years ago before we had a DHS? Before it was acceptable to do this sort of thing? Were we unsafe then? Did females get their vaginal cavities searched before passenger airline flights?

I'm tired of americans crying about how bad the government is yet doing nothing to change it.

It's not that easy to 'change' things like this.

Liberty will always fall to tyranny. It's happened all throughout history. Only revolution can stop it in its tracks. Even then though, there's a risk factor involved of turning a soft tyranny into a true tyranny with revolution if the wrong people take power.

Unfortunately we live in a nation today run by those who are beyond our reach. Average joe congressman is threatened by the party if they go against it. The powerful members of congress get their payoffs and then threaten the rest. The system is broke due to the corruption involved.

We're not going to solve a damn thing in this system without term limits.

Apparently so, if 9/11 is any indicator.

Yeah, because Box Cutters are such a big threat....

[slim 1,514]

Apparently so, if 9/11 is any indicator.

Do you feel safer today than you did on September 8th, 2001?

If so (and I'm not sure how anyone in their right mind could) is it because of things like TSA checks prior to boarding aircraft?

It's not that easy to 'change' things like this.

Liberty will always fall to tyranny. It's happened all throughout history. Only revolution can stop it in its tracks. Even then though, there's a risk factor involved of turning a soft tyranny into a true tyranny with revolution if the wrong people take power.

Unfortunately we live in a nation today run by those who are beyond our reach. Average joe congressman is threatened by the party if they go against it. The powerful members of congress get their payoffs and then threaten the rest. The system is broke due to the corruption involved.

We're not going to solve a damn thing in this system without term limits.

They sure can 'change' the restrictions on liberty pretty quickly.

It's amazing how quick we were to accept the new and improved airport regulations because they told us we needed them. We gave the inches and now that they're taking miles, we're all upset.

Why? And why is the average american not smart enough to understand that concept applies not only at the security checkpoint, but all aspects of life?

Yeah, because Box Cutters are such a big threat....

Less than 1% of 1% of our population was attacked and yet the wool was not only pulled over our eyes, we asked for more.

How stupid are we?

[Captain Oates 910]

She actually said "I have been graped"

The supervisor said " Don't you mean raped ?"

She said " No, I have been graped - there was a bunch of them "

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

It's government sponsored sexual assault.

[Captain Oates 910]

I quite like being groped actually

I know a lot of guys who would pay good money for it

As my sergeant used to say - " Don't knock it til you have tried it"

I even like watching other people being groped

Is that kinky ?