Rand Paul illegally detained at airport

Status
Not open for further replies.
ok, let's play semantics for a bit...what if he was on his way to the Capitol the day before a vote? is it illegal to detain him for setting off an alarm even if the detainment was only let's say 10 minutes?
Yes.

Now, what if he's on his way to the Capitol where he has to be in Senate within let's say 12 hours? is it really detainment if he had more than enough time to make the roll call, even after a brief period of questioning by airport security who probably wondered what he was hiding because he refused to a putdown.
Do you see any exceptions in the Constitution? I don't.

As an aside of interest, some states have even coverage (from the SC Constitution):

"SECTION 14. Members in attendance protected.

The members of both houses shall be protected in their persons and estates during their attendance on, going to and returning from the General Assembly, and ten days previous to the sitting and ten days after the adjournment thereof. But these privileges shall not protect any member who shall be charged with treason, felony or breach of the peace."

At what point is it TRUE detainment? when a senator is truly in danger of not being able to conduct business in congress which didn't happen with Rand or is it detainment at any time a Congressman goes to DC?
That's not up to the detainer to determine. If the Congressman says he's going to DC, he has to be allowed to go. If there are things to hash out, that has to be done at a later date.

And lastly, what would you think if you were right there witnessing a politician setting off an alarm then refusing to submit to any patdowns afterwards? Wouldn't it make you raise an eyebrow and wonder why such a big fuss over a few seconds of patting?
It would probably depend on the demeanor of how the politician carried out his refusal. If he refused in a firm but civil manner, I would think, "More power to him!"
 
Oh, Reba, you mentioned Breach of Peace. Isn't setting off the alarm a breach of peace? hoping airportcop can chime in on this.
 
TSA was created by republican controlled House and republican controlled Senate (actually equally R and D) after 9/11/2001 so law allows Homeland Security to regulate TSA whatever they want like 3 oz liquid limit, must scan the gaming console, etc.
 
Oh, Reba, you mentioned Breach of Peace. Isn't setting off the alarm a breach of peace? hoping airportcop can chime in on this.
The exact offenses covered by breach of the peace varies by jurisdiction.

Usually they do have some elements in common. One of those elements would be that it had to be intentional. I don't believe Paul did anything intentional to set of the alarm. Also, since the magnetometer alarm is continually going off in the airport as part of the security routine, I don't think it was a startling or fear-inducing sound to those standing around. No one was physically threatened.

More at:

Breach of the Peace Lawyers | LegalMatch Law Library
 
The exact offenses covered by breach of the peace varies by jurisdiction.

Usually they do have some elements in common. One of those elements would be that it had to be intentional. I don't believe Paul did anything intentional to set of the alarm. Also, since the magnetometer alarm is continually going off in the airport as part of the security routine, I don't think it was a startling or fear-inducing sound to those standing around. No one was physically threatened.

More at:

Breach of the Peace Lawyers | LegalMatch Law Library

Whether he intentionally set it off or not, he did set it off. That could have been all the loophole TSA needed. Also, is refusing a pat down after going through security screening a crime?

i know one can refuse before entering security but not sure about after entering security.

anyway. TSA has too much power. But then again, who created TSA again? Oh yeah, Bush's Homeland Security Dept.

enough said.
 
do you know how hard it is to undo the law or to pass bills through Congress? And it would be particularly difficult if not impossible to undo Homeland Security department and all the acts regarding secret spying on Americans etc etc.

the republicans are not going to do that since it was one of their own who signed the bills and the democrats are just going to face stalemate in congress again if they tried.

Congress controls the funding. They could cut off funding. As it turns out, The Republican controlled House voted to do just that last May. WEll, not cut it, but reduce it. Democrats who control the Senate refused.

The TSA was not originally part of the Homeland Security Department, it was part of the dept of Transportation., and according to the TSA itself was actually created by DOT, not by Congress. Congress moved it to Homeland Security. It could be moved again. I'm trying to find the voting record on moving it. I don't recall that there was much debate. I think both parties voted for it, but I don't know for sure.

It would not be hard at all to undo spying on Americans, Obama deliberately chose to continue that, in fact to step it up, as did the Democrat led House and Senate. Not that I see what this has to do with the TSA detaining anybody.

The Democrats controlled both the House and Senate from 2009 to 2011, Bush's last two weeks and Obama's first two years in office. If they were interested in repealing it, they easily could have.
That was the 111th Congress.

Prior to that, according to Wikipedia, in the 110th Congress "the Democratic Party controlled a majority in both chambers for the first time since the end of the 103rd Congress in 1995. Although the Democrats held fewer than 50 Senate seats, they had an operational majority because the two independent senators caucused with the Democrats for organizational purposes. No Democratic-held seats had fallen to the Republican Party in the 2006 elections. Democrat Nancy Pelosi became the first woman Speaker of the House."

Four of the 8 years Bush was in office, the Senate was controlled by the Democrats. They also could have stopped what they wanted to stop.

The first full two years of Obama's term he had a filibuster proof majority in both Houses.

You seem to have a tenacious need to make everything bad about Bush, and everything you like about Obama. And first you defend the TSA, and now suddenly the TSA has something to do with spying on Americans.

Rand Paul is just the latest in a logn line of TSA abuses. Wikipedia has a list of them just from the last year or two.


It's baffling that anybody would defend them at all, no matter who voted for them several years ago. They're out of control, they abuse their power, and they lie.
 
Grayma, tenacious need to make everything about Bush? really? when did you join AD? December 11? that's just a few weeks ago. you've reviewed all of my posts and concluded I make it all about Bush and tenaciously so? That's a very blanket generalized statement to make on just a few of my posts. I didn't realize one could get to know me so well as to know my political stances on politicians, and by the way, I'm not a hardcore supporter of Obama by any means. I'm very disappointed with him in some ways. Please show me any posts I've made since you've joined AD that shows that I think Bush is all bad and Obama all good. You're making this up in your head and now claiming I made such statements. I haven't.

Are you a supporter of Bush?

i was talking about the actual legislation and violations of it. i never defended TSA - I had a personal experience dealing with them and it wasn't pleasant.

I was also talking about how much immunity should politicians receive in regards to airport security screening. because what if one of those politicians should not be exempted for a very good reason?

My point was - all this grey area regarding exact legislation in relation to airport security. Why should an elderly gentleman who never did a single thing wrong in his life be subjected to TSA pat downs and interrogations even if he didn't set off the alarm but a politician who had an entire day to get to Senate has the right to create a big fuss about a pat down even though he did set off the alarm?

Reba's first post did raise very good questions about all of this.

I checked out the link you posted: didn't see anything written about Democrats refusing to cut or cancel TSA funding.
 
TSA is a red tape out of control agency sponsored by our government. Yes indeed airport security and screening needed to be upgraded and beefed up but not like it has gotten since TSA has been empowered. The financial waste and abuse of power are out of control. Some of it is good but way too over the top for most. There are some good people who work for the TSA and then there are some power hungry folks too. It needs to be revamped and regulated somehow. I can tell you some scary things about the TSA. As for one they can find out much more personal information about you than any police department can and way faster too! I hope the new president whomever he is fixes this problem.
 
Here is how screening works in the TSA. You can before entering the screening process refuse to participate but after you begin screening then you are supposed to have to finish it since you might be a threat! I think the worst thing they can do is call the airport police and have you escorted out but that is about it unless they decide to impose a civil or federal fine against you which TSA can do and have done for other violations. They say that when you alarm that the alarm must be resolved or figured out. Oh yeah, they can also refuse to let you clear screening which will not allow you to fly. I have seen it done before. Wonderful system isn't it! The Israelis have a much less intrusive and better way of doing it. It is called profiling for terrorists! It is proven to work too!
 
Last edited:
TSA is a red tape out of control agency sponsored by our government. Yes indeed airport security and screening needed to be upgraded and beefed up but not like it has gotten since TSA has been empowered. The financial waste and abuse of power are out of control. Some of it is good but way too over the top for most. There are some good people who work for the TSA and then there are some power hungry folks too. It needs to be revamped and regulated somehow. I can tell you some scary things about the TSA. As for one they can find out much more personal information about you than any police department can and way faster too! I hope the new president whomever he is fixes this problem.

I think that TSA need to be heavily regulated and re-trained at military grade level to protect citizen's rights and Obama is capable to support but only big issue is the congress won't act it.
 
TSA was created by republican controlled House and republican controlled Senate (actually equally R and D) after 9/11/2001 so law allows Homeland Security to regulate TSA whatever they want like 3 oz liquid limit, must scan the gaming console, etc.

Always a wealth of information my man!
 
Grayma, tenacious need to make everything about Bush? really? when did you join AD? December 11? that's just a few weeks ago. you've reviewed all of my posts and concluded I make it all about Bush and tenaciously so? That's a very blanket generalized statement to make on just a few of my posts. I didn't realize one could get to know me so well as to know my political stances on politicians, and by the way, I'm not a hardcore supporter of Obama by any means. I'm very disappointed with him in some ways.

Are you a supporter of Bush?

i was talking about the actual legislation and violations of it. i never defended TSA - I had a personal experience dealing with them and it wasn't pleasant.

I was also talking about how much immunity should politicians receive in regards to airport security screening. because what if one of those politicians should not be exempted for a very good reason?

My point was - all this grey area regarding exact legislation in relation to airport security. Why should an elderly gentleman who never did a single thing wrong in his life be subjected to TSA pat downs and interrogations even if he didn't set off the alarm but a politician who had an entire day to get to Senate has the right to create a big fuss about a pat down even though he did set off the alarm?

Reba's first post did raise very good questions about all of this.

I checked out the link you posted: didn't see anything written about Democrats refusing to cut or cancel TSA funding.

I joined in December, but I have been reading about a month or two before that. I read a lot because I'm trying to learn as much as I can about Deaf/deaf stuff, and that is how your posts strike me. I withdraw the observation, however, because you're right, it's still not fair- there have to be thousands of posts I've not read and what people post about in an online forum is not a reflection of their entire lives. I hope to keep peace.

No, I am not a supporter of Bush. I'm a staunchly Pro-life Libertarian. At this point, I'm not a supporter of any of them. They all disappoint me.

Politicians, meh.

As for your point about the elderly gentleman (or my little girl, for that matter) vs Rand Paul- you're right- that's the point. TSA exceeds its authority but doesn't increase security. They need to alter the way they screen completely (or rather, go away).

But it feels like to me you are saying, 'Rand Paul should stop whining, TSA abuses other people, so he should just shut up and take it,'

Whereas my response is never that just because a government office abuses one person, it's okay for them violate the law with another person. It should be, "Finally, now that they've targeted a Congresscritter, somebody with the power to fix it, maybe something will be done." And also, TSA just lies, to my personal knowledge, so I do not believe their version anyway, but that's deeply personal.

As for the idea that there might be a good reason to detain a Congressman- if there was good enough reason, really, TSA wouldn't have it. They wouldn't recognize a threat if it spit in their eye and shouted "Arrest me!" If there was a genuine reason, a real suspicion that a congresscritter was a threat, no other government agency would leave that to TSA to take care of- and, at any rate, as Reba pointed out the Constitution does list three exceptions. An automatic beeping that Paul did not deliberately set off is not a 'breach of the peace' under any circumstances.


As for your last point- this is not fair, but I posted a lot of links, and I can't remember which one you're referring to and can't check it. I really, really, really should have gotten off the computer an hour ago. If I don't fold laundry now, my husband and I will have to sleep on the couches or kick the kids out of one of their beds.:shock:

going by memory, my point was that the first two years Obama was in office his own party had full control of both house and Senate. Therefore, there was nothing preventing the Democrats from repealing anything they wanted- if you have a majority, it's actually quite simple. So it's no longer reasonable to blame everything on Bush. If Democrats didn't like it (and in most cases they do like what Bush did and intend to capitalize on it, just as much as any other politician), they could have repealed any of it- the Patriot Act, TSA, renditions, Guatanomo, everything- it was entirely within their power for a full two years. Republicans could not stop them. Republicans still only control one of the Houses now.

Secondly, there was an attempt by Republicans to reduce funding on the TSA. But it failed. Not because of the Rebublicans.

This is a link I still had up, but I didn't post before because, well, I just figured I was already over some limit somewhere.
It's from december of 2011:

"It looks like Congress' recent jabs at TSA were just posturing after all. Last Friday, President Obama signed a spending act passed by both houses of Congress. The act gives TSA a $7.85 billion budget increase for 2012 and includes funding for 12 additional multi-modal Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams and 140 new behavior detection officers. It even includes funding for 250 shiny new body scanners, which was originally cut from the funding bill last May."

Click on the link- they have a lot of hyperlinks in the text. Also, it's from Slashdot, which is not a conservative stronghold. Democrats didn't repeal it when they controlled both Houses, and they increased its powers last year- the Republicans must have helped because they have a majority in one of the Houses now, but with Democrats controlling the other and a Democrat in the executive branch, you can't keep blaming the TSA on Republicans.

I'm not saying they'd do better. I'm just saying you can't blame this one on them anymore if you ever could (I'd still like to see the actual voting record for the earliest vote on the TSA).

But... laundry. I blame.... The Supreme Court. They haven't come up yet and somebody should blame them for something.
 
ok, let's play semantics for a bit...what if he was on his way to the Capitol the day before a vote? is it illegal to detain him for setting off an alarm even if the detainment was only let's say 10 minutes?

Now, what if he's on his way to the Capitol where he has to be in Senate within let's say 12 hours? is it really detainment if he had more than enough time to make the roll call, even after a brief period of questioning by airport security who probably wondered what he was hiding because he refused to a patdown.

At what point is it TRUE detainment? when a senator is truly in danger of not being able to conduct business in congress which didn't happen with Rand or is it detainment at any time a Congressman goes to DC?

Know what I mean?

And lastly, what would you think if you were right there witnessing a politician setting off an alarm then refusing to submit to any patdowns afterwards? Wouldn't it make you raise an eyebrow and wonder why such a big fuss over a few seconds of patting?

it does not matter if it's 10 seconds or 10 minutes. you are veering into a very dangerous territory.... where you should just comply to police's request to search your car when they have no probable cause. why? "hey if you got nothing to hide, you should just let them do it when requested."

in this case, he is U.S. Senator and to think that he MAY or may not pose a security risk to air travel is comical. He is federally protected by Constitution that he is NOT to be detained or delayed or whatsoever in any matter if he's on his way to Congress or related.
 
it does not matter if it's 10 seconds or 10 minutes. you are veering into a very dangerous territory.... where you should just comply to police's request to search your car when they have no probable cause. why? "hey if you got nothing to hide, you should just let them do it when requested."

in this case, he is U.S. Senator and to think that he MAY or may not pose a security risk to air travel is comical. He is federally protected by Constitution that he is NOT to be detained or delayed or whatsoever in any matter if he's on his way to Congress or related.

ok, for sake of debate.....let's say he's carrying a gun.Or let's say he's carrying 10 bottles of Oxycontin. Should he still not be detained? Are politicians truly exempt from any detainment for any reason whatsoever as long as "they're on their way to Congress within 10 days before and 10 days after assembly or whatever the exact wording is". That's what I'm asking.
 
ok, let's play semantics for a bit...what if he was on his way to the Capitol the day before a vote? is it illegal to detain him for setting off an alarm even if the detainment was only let's say 10 minutes?

Now, what if he's on his way to the Capitol where he has to be in Senate within let's say 12 hours? is it really detainment if he had more than enough time to make the roll call, even after a brief period of questioning by airport security who probably wondered what he was hiding because he refused to a patdown.

At what point is it TRUE detainment? when a senator is truly in danger of not being able to conduct business in congress which didn't happen with Rand or is it detainment at any time a Congressman goes to DC?

Know what I mean?

And lastly, what would you think if you were right there witnessing a politician setting off an alarm then refusing to submit to any patdowns afterwards? Wouldn't it make you raise an eyebrow and wonder why such a big fuss over a few seconds of patting?
If I were the bystander, I'd be thinking this guy thinks some people are more equal than others.
 
Just wondering; if he had to use the airport toilet for a "sit-down procedure," and there was a long line, would the Constitution require all those folks waiting for a toilet to step aside?

Sorry, just had to toss this out there. :wave:
 
ok, for sake of debate.....let's say he's carrying a gun.Or let's say he's carrying 10 bottles of Oxycontin. Should he still not be detained? Are politicians truly exempt from any detainment for any reason whatsoever as long as "they're on their way to Congress within 10 days before and 10 days after assembly or whatever the exact wording is". That's what I'm asking.

as stated in OP -
"They [Congressmen] shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same"

this should answer your question.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top