Texans looking at reins for TSA gropers

TSA 'enhanced pat-down'

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, deciding his state has a winning hand in a poker-match bluff with the federal government, has ordered that the state legislature, meeting now in special session, consider punishing the "official oppression" of residents "seeking access to public buildings and transportation."

That means lawmakers who already have gathered a majority of names of both the state House and the state Senate in support of a law that would limit what Transportation Security Administration can do in airport security lines have the go-ahead to adopt a law they've been developing for weeks.

Perry's statement, issued late in the day, said lawmakers now could work on "legislation relating to prosecution and punishment for the offense of official oppression of persons seeking access to public buildings and transportation."

He earlier had indicated that lawmakers had neither the support nor the time to deal with the issue.

The issue was raised to Perry by Wesley Strackbein of TSATyranny,com, who drove nine hours through the night to personally confront the governor at a signing session for his new book, "Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington."

Perry said there wasn't enough support for the plan and then said there wasn't time. But state Rep. David Simpson, who has sponsored the plan, disagreed with both statements.

"I am perplexed because yesterday I learned that in New Orleans at a signing of your book, 'Fed Up,' you stated that there were not enough votes in either house to pass the bill. However, with a full roster of coauthors in the House and the leadership of Senator Patrick and Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst in the Senate, there is clear support for the bill," Simpson wrote in a letter to the governor. "You also stated in that video account that 'there was not enough time.' With such overwhelming support for the bill in the Legislature, and throughout Texas, I respectfully submit that there is still time to pass this bill if you act now.

Simpson told the governor that any "concerns for time would be quickly wiped away if you would take the bull by the horns and provide leadership on this issue."

"With broad bipartisan support for this bill, this is your opportunity to show America that you have what it takes to lead this state and the nation by enforcing the Constitution of this state and the Constitution of the United States which both protect innocent people from unreasonable searches of their person by their own government," Simpson said.

"You write in your book, 'Fed Up,' that you want to 'help foster a nationwide conversation about the role of government in our lives' ... I can think of no role less suitable for our federal government than that of routinely violating innocent citizens of this state and those of the entire country," Simpson said. "Even our state officials are being violated as they travel to conduct the business of this state. I am sure you have heard by now that last Tuesday TSA officials reached up the skirts of Rep. Barbara Nash and another female member of the Texas House, touching their privates through their undergarments!"

The proposal developed by Simpson simply states that any federal agent must have probable cause to make such contact, as the Bill of Rights requires.

The proposal had been withdrawn in the regular session of the legislature by one sponsor when federal authorities threatened to make Texas a "no-fly" zone by canceling flights to and from the state.

Simpson said both houses of the Legislature have addressed the issue, and thousands of people have called for action.

Because it is a special legislative session, lawmakers can vote only on issues designated by the governor.

The threat to Texas air travel came from U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy, who warned state lawmakers, "Texas has no authority to regulate federal agents and employees in the performance of their federal duties or to pass a statute that conflicts with federal law."

He said at that time that if state lawmakers would move forward with their plans to protect airline passengers from what critics have termed sexual assault in airport security lines, "TSA would likely be required to cancel any flight or series of flights."

The letter's impact was immediate, as one state senator told the Tenth Amendment Center he would not pursue his bill. But just as immediate was the outcry over the "tyranny" being imposed by the federal government and warnings that if this year's bill isn't successful, there certainly will be more to follow.

Simpson, however, suggested the federal government review the U.S. Constitution, under which its agents are supposed to be acting.

"Instead of threatening to shut down flights in Texas, why doesn't the TSA just show us their statutory authority to grope or ogle our private parts?" he asked. "All that HB 1937 does is require that the TSA abide by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution."

The issue has been getting more attention recently, including when one state official even alleged the TSA was punishing state officials for their objections:

Simpson said his proposal was crafted so that it doesn't prohibit pat-downs.

"We're just saying you can't go straight to third base. You have to have a reason – you have to have probable cause – before groping someone's sexual organs," he said.

Transportation Security Administration agents could be charged with a misdemeanor crime, face a $4,000 fine and one year in jail under the measure.

But the federal representative, Murphy, said the restriction is unacceptable, arguing federal agents have to be able to touch sex organs as they please.

"The proposed legislation would make it unlawful for a federal agent such as a TSO to perform certain specified searches for the purpose of granting access to a publicly accessible building or form of transportation," he said. "That provision would thus criminalize searches that are required under federal regulations in order to ensure the safety of the American public."

"If the administrator [of the TSA] determines that 'a particular threat cannot be addressed in a way adequate to ensure … the safety of passengers and crew of a particular flight,' he 'shall cancel the flight or series of flights,'" he threatened.

In a commentary at the Tenth Amendment Center by Connor Boyack with Brian Roberts and Michael Boldin, the organization said, "It was less than a month ago at the Dallas, Texas, airport where former Miss USA Susie Castillo tearfully produced a viral video describing the molestation she had just endured at the hands of a TSA agent.

"I mean, she actually… touched my vagina," Castillo said through her tears. "They're making me… choose to either get molested… or go through this machine that's completely unhealthy and dangerous. I don't want to go through it, and here I am crying."

Continued the commentary, "Castillo isn't the only person who would be protected under this Texas legislation. All other innocent travelers would likewise be shielded. That includes the six year old girl who made the headlines last month for being groped by a TSA agent (an action which the TSA defended as being alright since it 'followed the current standard operating procedures'), as well as the eight-month-old infant subjected to a pat down while cradled in the arms of her mother."