The right to travel is part of the ‘liberty’ of which the citizen cannot be deprived without due process of law under the Fifth Amendment. … Travel abroad, like travel within the country, may be necessary for a livelihood. … Freedom of movement is basic in our scheme of values. — Justice William O. Douglas, Kent v. Dulles (1958)
Among American casualties in the war on terrorism is the right to travel by air. That freedom was lost in the hysteria following the Sept. 11 attacks when the federal government took over the job of screening airline passengers.
No longer is buying a ticket and boarding an airplane a private business transaction. The federal government now defines flying as a privilege it confers on certain citizens — namely, those willing to forfeit their constitutional rights.
It is impossible to pass through an airport these days, as 5 million of us did last weekend,without becoming pessimistic about the future of freedom in this country. What sort of people have we become in the past five years that we tolerate the tyrannical practices of the Transportation Security Administration?
Almost everyone recognizes the absurdity of the TSA’s approach. This nation is under attack by radical Muslims, yet TSA’s policy is to pretend not to know whom the enemy is. Consequently, agents subject ordinary Americans to outrageous treatment: dangling little old ladies from wheelchairs, inspecting 2-year-olds’ shoes, searching uniformed members of a Marine honor guard for hidden explosives. But to criticize such lunacy is to risk immediate retribution. Annoy one of the petty tyrants empowered by the TSA, and they can harass you with a body search, bump you from your flight — even charge you with a crime — merely for exercising your First Amendment right to criticize government policy to a government agent. Is this what politicians have in mind when they blather about “protecting our way of life”?
The Fourth Amendment fares even worse. Perhaps nothing better exemplifies unreasonable search and seizure than the tactics of the TSA. It is unreasonable to suspect that every prospective flier is a terrorist, and treating everyone equally to avoid racial profiling is no excuse: It isn’t profiling when the enemy identifies itself. When radical Muslims have announced they are the culprits, it is irrational to treat non-Muslims as equally suspect. Or consider the TSA’s unreasonable seizure of property. The agency’s latest diktat — that all liquids must be in 3-ounce bottles packed in a quart-size baggie — supposedly prevents anyone from carrying on enough liquids to make a bomb. But think about it: You can bring aboard 15 ounces of liquid, as long as it’s in five three-ounce bottles, but pack one 15-ounce bottle of shampoo, and the TSA will confiscate it. Does such nonsense make anyone safer?
Due process is another right not affordedby the TSA. If the federal government decides that you may not board an airplane, it puts your name on a “no-fly” list. No charges are filed; you don’t have a day in court. Indeed, you cannot even be told why you are on the list. And if your name is the same as someone else’s on the list, chances are that it will never be removed.
Certainly, it is justifiable to keep known terrorists off airplanes. But before Sept. 11, 2001, there were 16 names on the no-fly list. Today, there are more than 44,000, which means the list almost certainly has become too cumbersome to be effective. It also lends credence to complaints from political activists that the government has added their names to the list as a means of punishing them for dissent. Adults, at least, have the historical memory to realize what a corruption of our essential values the TSA represents. But how are such experiences shaping the perception today’s children have of their government?
If airport security is a civics lesson, children are being taught to follow practices antithetical to a free society. That is dangerous, because they cannot be expected to grow up and defend a way of life they have never known. No one argues that terrorists are not a very real threat. But by treating every traveler as a potential enemy, rather than targeting likely suspects, the TSA does nothing to enhance airline security. And by tolerating such unproductive and autocratic policies, Americans jeopardize not only their safety, but their freedom as well.
Writer Melanie Scarborough is an Arlington resident.
