Florida - Should TSA Agents Be Arrested for Pat Downs? Florida Libertarians Hope So

OFF THE WIRE
BY: Kyle Munzenrieder
 blogs.miaminewtimes.com

Over in Texas, Gov. Rick Perry supported a law that would have made TSA agents subject to arrest for pat downs of passengers. That bill ultimately died, but the Libertarian Party of Florida hopes to bring that idea to Florida. Members of the fringe party sent letters to Sheriffs in all 67 county in Florida on the Fourth of July demanding that TSA agents be arrested. 

"Every single day, TSA employees conduct electronic and bodily searches upon tens of thousands of Florida citizens and visitors at airports, and more recently at bus terminals, rail stations, and highways," read the letter according to The Hill. "They are searching the persons and seizing the effects of travelers without warrant or probable cause. Specifically, they are in blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution."

"If you have TSA agents within your county that are violating the law, then you must act," the letter continued. "Warn the TSA agents that they are subject to arrest if they continue to violate the law. Should they continue, then you must begin making arrests.

The inferences is that basically all TSA agents are breaking the law, and should hence be arrested. 

Such efforts were eventually dropped in Texas after federal officials threatened to cut off all commercial air travel in the state if the bill was made law. Considering Florida's economy is unusually dependent on tourism, and hence air travel, we don't expect similar efforts to take off here in Florida.