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Man faces charges for defying TSA agents
A Seattle man's trial in Albuquerque on charges of making trouble at an airport security checkpoint is getting attention from civil liberties groups all over the country.Read on and you'll actually have some sympathy for the TSA. Phil Mocek was arrested at the Albuquerque Sunport in November of 2009
Mistake #1. The TSA has every right to ask for a valid ID. Police say Mocek became disruptive. Mistake #2. Becoming disruptive gets you a quick exit from the security line and a short ride to the airport lockup. They arrested him and charged him with disorderly conduct, refusing to obey an officer, criminal trespassing, and concealing his identity. After many delays, his trial in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court was scheduled to begin this morning, but the judge ordered it postponed until January 20. Guess you're not getting to where you wanted to go quickly. Representatives from several civil liberties groups were at the courthouse this morning, including Edward Hasbrouck of the San Francisco-based Identity Project. "This is the first time anybody anywhere in the country has actually been arrested and put on trial on criminal charges for anything that happens at a TSA checkpoint," Hasbrouck said. There's always a first time. Police told Eyewitness News 4 that when somebody becomes disruptive or offensive in an airport, they have a responsibility to stop it - and that's what they said they did when they arrested Mocek. Correct. That's one reason why we have police. Hasbrouck said the demand for Mocek's I.D. started all the trouble. " What's really at root in this case is whether travel is a right that we have under the Constitution - an ability to move about the country without having to show papers - which has been one of the defining characteristics of American freedom, " Hasbrouck said. I don't recall anything in the Bill of Rights about travel. Air travel is a public conveyance. It's regulated by the Federal government, and airports are also regulated by state governments. If the government wants you to show a valid ID, you show a valid ID (unless you're voting in an airport). Posted by: Steve White 2011-01-17 |
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