The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) may once again be in hot water, after a petition circulated by the Cato Institute exposing their controversial practices went viral online yesterday.
According to the petition, the TSA was ordered by a federal court in July 2011 to perform a “notice-and-comment rulemaking” on their use of new “Advanced Imaging Technology” as part of airport security screening.
Essentially, TSA was supposed to publish all the details pertaining to the practice of this advanced imaging screening process and take into account reaction from the public before putting the new technology into use.
Now, one year later, Cato reports that the TSA has yet to even begin the process.
Because of TSA’s disregard for the federal court ruling, Cato is petitioning President Barack Obama to use his power to order TSA to follow-through with the required commenting period.
This is certainly not the first time this year TSA has received negative attention in response to their over-zealous screening tactics.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was prevented from boarding a flight in January after he refused a pat-down from the TSA. Sen. Paul, a Republican, has been a frequent critic of the invasive practices of the TSA and has strongly objected to their practice of patting down small children. If Paul had his way, the federal government would solve the frequently reported problems with the TSA by simply getting rid of the agency.
Although Paul has yet to be successful at ending the widely loathed agency, his legislation could receive more attention as organizations like the Cato Institute help draw attention to the questionable practices of the government agency.
As of this morning, the Cato petition had more than 9,300 signatures, with a goal of 25,000 by August 8, 2012. With less than 16,000 signatures to go, Cato is well on its way to amassing more than the proposed number of signatures.
