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     Ashton Side Hero Username: Ashton Post Number: 9537 Registered: 05-2008 Posted From: 66.90.104.94 Rating: N/A |
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/12/02/harvard_s tudents_challenge_tsa/ Suit seeks to rein in use of full-body scans, pat-downs at airports Two Harvard Law School students have sued the Transportation Security Administration, seeking to restrict the use of full-body scanners and pat-downs at airports and joining a growing number of lawsuits filed across the country that claim the screening procedures infringe on constitutional rights to privacy. The body scans, which show images of airline passengers’ naked bodies, and the pat-downs, which include touching groin areas, violate the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, according to the complaint filed Monday in US District Court in Boston. The students, Jeffrey Redfern and Anant Pradhan, are asking the court to ban the TSA from using the screening procedures without reasonable suspicion. Margaret Paget, a partner at the Boston law firm Sherin and Lodgen, said the Harvard students, who are representing themselves in the suit, have a valid claim and a chance of winning. Under TSA screening procedures, passengers selected for full-body scans can opt for a pat-down search instead. Redfern and Pradhan both chose the pat-down at Logan International Airport while traveling separately in November, according to their complaint. The search, which included “prodding and lifting of genitals and buttocks,’’ was so intrusive that, “if done non-consensually, would amount to sexual assault in most jurisdictions,’’ the complaint said. |
