Problems with the TSA

Coverage: Hacker News, Slashdot, BoingBoing, RT America News, Tumblr, RightThisMinute, RTM update, PapersPlease 2014 & 2015

How you can help

To everyone who has donated so far — all my patreon patrons, 27 anonymous people, Alan Jaffray, Ben Heaton, Brent Smith, Forrest Davie, Jakob Burgos, James O'Keefe, Jonathan Hammer, @hibitcoin, Leland Paul, Michael Chermside, Michelle Tackabery & zmccord — thank you!

Updates:

2014-01-02: I filed a FOIA/PA lawsuit.

2013-08-16: TSA: "A response to your complaint regarding your screening in Boston has been drafted and is currently under review. We cannot predict when the review process will be complete. A response to your complaint regarding your screening in San Francisco is being developed. We appreciate your patience."

2013-04-08: TSA has officially admitted to RightThisMinute that: "TSA’s policy allows medically necessary liquids through the security checkpoint once they have been screened. We regret that TSA did not follows its procedures recently at San Francisco International Airport when a passenger was not permitted to travel with liquids he declared as medically necessary. The passenger has reached out to TSA and we will respond directly to his concerns."

2013-04-03: SFO airport video has been released to me in response to my FOIA request. Raw video: part 1, part 2

2013-04-02: Added point to FAQ re why the video isn't as shaky

2013-04-01: The TSA has finally started retroactively accepting comments on their electronic strip search program. I strongly encourage you all to click 'comment now' on that page and share your thoughts.

2013-04-01: TSA started in part and denied in part my FOIA in that incident.

2013-04-01: TSA denied my FOIA because it "is too broad in scope or did not specifically identify the records which you are seeking". Looks like this is going to go to court. Quoting the DoJ FOIA guide (ch 3 p 47): "Although a FOIA request might be very broad or burdensome in magnitude, this does not necessarily entitle an agency to deny that request on the basis that it does not "reasonably describe" the records sought. Rather, the key to determining whether a request is or is not "reasonably described" is the ability of agency staff to reasonably ascertain exactly which records are being requested and to locate them."

2013-03-31: why we suck at understanding terrorism risk

2013-03-31: added proof of my neurological disorder, added FAQ to cover some common comments

Summary

I have a neurological disorder that causes episodic muteness and muscle spasms. I always require medical liquids (namely, juice) at hand, and sometimes I require paper to communicate (with people who don't know American Sign Language).

The TSA has a de facto program of violating the rights of disabled travelers like me, and I'm fed up with it. They're routinely violating not just clearly established law, but their own policy. I want this to stop.

I'm currently pursuing administrative & civil action against the TSA for these incidents below. If you know any good lawyers admitted to the US District Court of D.C., or who are knowledgable in the Rehabilitation Act, §1983 or Bivens actions under the 1st and 4th amendment, and/or FOIA / Privacy Act litigation, please email me.

I believe that the public has a right to know what the TSA's rules are. Therefore, I've submitted a FOIA for essentially all of the TSA's policy & procedures documents on public interest grounds. If these are of interest to you, please fill in my simple 3 question survey; it'll help me a lot in pursuing this.

Right now, the TSA's "recommended but not required" stance encourages agents to violate travelers' rights by forcing them to disclose their disability and encouraging someone with no medical training decide whether something is "medically necessary" or not.

Instead, I think that the TSA's policy on liquids should be simple: if it's over one quart, it gets tested. The end. No questions, no having to out yourself as disabled. They have dedicated machines for doing this, called liquid container screening devices, that take only about 30 seconds to use — but they simply refuse to. If you agree with me, please contact your senator or representative and ask them to support this change in policy.

On January 21, 2013, Boston Logan TSA conducted an illegal search of my xray-cleared documents (probably motivated either by my opting out or by my use of sign language to communicate). They refused to give me access to the pen and paper that I needed to communicate. Eventually they gave it to me, but then they took it away in direct retaliation for my using it to quote US v Davis and protest their illegal search (thereby literally depriving me of speech). They illegally detained me for about an hour on spurious, law enforcement motivated grounds (illegal under Davis, Aukai, Fofana, Bierfeldt, etc).

I filed formal ADA grievances with the Logan and national TSA, as well as complaints with the Department of Justice, Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, and Massachusetts Attorney General's Office. So far, TSA has refused to comply with the ADA grievance process; they're way over the statutory mandates for issuing a written determination.

I also filed FOIA / Privacy Act / evidence preservation on all involved parties. Massport claimed that merely confirming or denying the existence of the video would be disclosing "sensitive security information" (SSI) and refused to comply with the FOIA rule that requires that, instead of full denial, SSI just be redacted to the minimum extent necessary. Not to mention that SFO did release video to me after the TSA authorized it, and the TSA itself has posted checkpoint CCTV video when it suited their PR needs.

San Francisco incident (detailed complaint, lawsuit)

On March 1, 2013, San Francisco TSA refused to allow me to travel with medical liquids. My liquids had been been tested clean by xray & explosive trace detection, and the official on scene specifically acknowledged reading the TSA's Special Needs Memo (including that juice is a medical liquid and that there's no volume restriction on medical liquids). This directly involved the most senior TSA officials at the airport, who detained me for about 50 minutes total.

This is only the most recent in a long string of personal incidents of harassment, denial, or direct refusal to obey TSA's medical liquids policy. This time, though, I got it all on video:

I have filed formal complaints w/ DoJ Disability Rights office, national TSA Office of Civil Rights and Liberties, SFO TSA, SFO ADA Coordinator, and the office of Nanci Pelosi. I have yet to hear back from them more than an acknowledgment of receipt.

I have also filed FOIA / Privacy Act / evidence preservation demands with the national TSA, SFO TSA, SF Airport, SF Airport Security, and Covenant Aviation Security (SFO TSA's contractor).

SFO airport video has been released to me in response to my FOIA request. Raw video: part 1, part 2.

FAQ