Steve Watson

Prisonplanet.com

Oct 1, 2012



The Supreme Court has refused to hear a case brought against the TSA over its use of so called naked body scanners by an engineer who proved that the machines were useless.

As reported by AP and Reuters today, the high court declined to hear the appeal brought by Michigan activist Jonathan Corbett, saying that the case can only be filed with the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.

The Supreme Court refused to reopen the case after The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a previous dismissal by federal courts in Florida.

Corbett, who runs the blog TSA Out Of Our Pants, argued that the use of the screening techniques by the federal agency violates Fourth Amendment rights, specifically protection against illegal searches. As such, Corbett became the first person in the country to sue the TSA for invasion of privacy.

Corbett’s lawsuit, which also challenged the TSA’s use of enhanced pat downs at airport security lines, hit headlines earlier this year after he posted a video of himself demonstrating how the body scanners can easily be bypassed.

The clip shows surveillance camera footage of Corbett passing through a body scanner with a metallic object attached to his shirt without being apprehended by TSA agents, illustrating how the federal agency’s $1 billion dollar fleet of scanning machines are completely useless.



Corbett performed the same stunt at both Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Cleveland-Hopkins, after which the TSA ordered both airports not to release footage of the incidents.

The TSA described Corbett as “some guy” who had launched a “crude attempt to allegedly show how to circumvent TSA screening procedures.”

The agency failed to even address the fact that Corbett had proven the body scanners could be easily defeated, and then it threatened journalists not to cover the story.

Corbett has continued his efforts to expose flaws in the body scanner program by interviewing TSA whistleblowers who have admitted that the scanners routinely fail to pick up prohibited items such as knives, guns and powder designed to resemble explosive material. Corbett also recently testified in a congressional hearing on the scanners.

Corbett also has a pending a lawsuit against the TSA for unlawfully detaining him at FLL airport after he refused to undergo an enhanced patdown.

Corbett’s case was provided increased gravitas when a recent Homeland Security report noted that federal investigators have “identified vulnerabilities in the screening process” involving the scanners.

As we have previously noted, multiple other security experts have gone on record saying that the scanners are ineffective.

Special Comment From Alex Jones

There is an organized move on behalf of governments and corporations to bully the First Amendment out of existence.

This is why Infowars is pioneering a new civil rights movement that is not based around race, sex or any other minority issue. The fact that our rights are being violated and characterized as suspicious and terroristic threatens the freedom of every individual, no matter from what what race, gender or creed they originate.

We are being systematically intimidated out of expressing our right to free speech as part of the advancement towards a new dark age of tyranny.

We are calling on like-minded people to join us in the Opt Out and Film campaign, with the understanding that you will in all likelihood face official oppression for doing so.

The TSA is a federal agency stuffed full of liars, thieves and petty tyrants who like to harass and terrorize innocent Americans who refuse to comply with degrading treatment and who refuse to partake in obedience training.

The risk of being harassed or even arrested for legally exercising your First Amendment right is significant. However, the risk of not exercising this right is far greater. The risk of not exposing tyranny and allowing it to breed is unthinkable.

Use it or lose it. The First Amendment is under attack across the board and unless we re-assert our right to speak up when our basic human dignity is being eviscerated by uniformed goons on a daily basis, not only at airports but also subways, highways, political events, music concerts and even high school prom nights, we can kiss our liberty goodbye.

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Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.com, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.

This article was posted: Monday, October 1, 2012 at 9:58 am

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