Late last year, the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) notified the public of plans to implement yet additional security measures for those traveling in the U.S. and abroad. Specifically, the agency announced its plans to include pat downs and full body scans to screen ticket passengers-procedures both lawmakers and passengers alike say are too invasive.
In January, former professional wrestler and governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura, objected to the new procedures after he was given a pat down-and not the option of a hand-held wand scan-prior to boarding a flight. He later filed a lawsuit against the TSA and the Department of Homeland Security claiming their enhanced security techniques violates his Fourth Amendment rights.
He also claims that the enhanced screening technique impacts his career, effectively rendering him unable to work. According to the AP, Ventura had hip replacement surgery in 2008, leaving him with titanium implants in his body that continuously set off metal detectors whenever he travels.
Unreasonable Search and Seizure under the Fourth Amendment
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution says that "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..." (A search and seizure refers to the procedure whereby authorities perform a search of a person's property if they suspect that a crime has been committed.)
Ventura asserts that the pat downs and full body scan procedures constitute an unreasonable search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Specifically, he alleges that the search "exposed him to humiliation and degradation through unwanted touching, gripping and rubbing of the intimate areas of his body."
The TSA, however, says that pat downs are a necessary and effective way to prevent terrorist attacks. Pat downs, they say, are performed by same-gender officers, can be conducted in private and in the presence of any travel companions.
And, the TSA further notes, that only a small percentage of passengers are subjected to enhanced screening techniques.
It remains to be seen whether the courts will strike down the measures as being unconstitutional. However, for now, the procedures are still in place.
In his suit, Ventura is not asking for monetary compensation but an injunction to stop the TSA from conducting future searches.
