I’m sure most of you have heard about the JetBlue passengers who were stranded on the runway for 10 hours on Valentine’s Day. If not, you can read about it here.
Every time something like this happens, one can inevitably hear calls for a Passengers’ Bill of Rights from the outraged. Unfortunately, those of us who actually value liberty are disappointed at the lack of outrage concerning the blatant disregard for the original Bill of Rights at the airport. You know, the one that’s in the Constitution? [digg=http://www.digg.com/political_opinion/The_Passengers_Bill_of_Rights_vs_the_real_Bill_of_Rights]
Much of your airport experience is regulated by the Transportation Security Administration, or TSA. The TSA is a federal agency created in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Before this, airport security was handled by private companies. The TSA’s main jobs are to make sure airports are secure and to prevent airline hijacking. Whether or not the TSA is actually effective at doing their job is the subject of another post.
While there is outrage at the incredibly rare occasion when passengers are stuck on a runway for hours on end, it seems that most people have no qualms about surrendering their constitutional rights just to travel from point A to point B.
A trip to the airport usually voids your first amendment rights. God forbid someone makes a joke about a bomb. That person may well find himself detained with a hefty fine. Even writing an insult on one’s toiletry bag can get one detained.
You can forget about your second amendment rights as well. Large signs at the airport warn travelers that the government doesn’t look too kindly on those who would exercise their constitutional right to bear arms.
Your fourth amendment rights are thrown out the window as well. Everyone at the airport is searched like a criminal and no warrants are obtained.
Fifth amendment rights are routinely violated. It protects people from being “deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” However, personal property is routinely confiscated at the airport without due process.
Eighth amendment protection against excessive fines is ignored, as passengers can be fined up to $10,000 for violating TSA rules. Also, don’t bother carrying over $10,000 in cash to the airport. Thanks to our draconian drug laws, the cash will be confiscated under the assumptions that anyone carrying that much cash must be up to no good.
Of course, we are all told that this is all being done for the public good. Unfortunately, the government is the last entity that I trust to make decisions affecting the “public good.”
