Bill of Rights Resources
The Fourth Amendment
http://www.constitutionbee.org/user/StudentGuide.aspx?id=793
Liberty
http://www.constitutionbee.org/user/StudentGuide.aspx?id=834
News Resources
Stepped-up screening targets fliers from “terror-prone” lands
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/03/AR2010010301784.html?hpid=topnews
TSA Looks to Expand Use of Full-Body Scanners at U.S. Airports
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/29/tsa-looks-expand-use-body-scanners-airports/
TSA tries to assuage privacy concerns about full-body scans
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/us/30privacy.html
New rules keep plane passengers in seats
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010604706_airlinerules27.html
Discussion Questions
- What happened on the December 25 Northwest Airlines flight 235 from Amsterdam to Detroit?
There was an attempted terrorist attack. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to set off a bomb concealed in his underwear. He was unsuccessful and the plane landed safely.
- What measures have the federal government announced in the wake of the attack with respect to a) intelligence gathering; b) full-body scanners; c) passengers from countries known for terrorist activity and d) passenger activity during flight?
a) President Obama, saying that a “systemic failure has occurred” has called for changes in the way intelligence is distributed among agencies. In this case, the suspect was in a database with a half million other names, but was not on a no-fly list or on a list requiring secondary screening; he paid cash for his ticket and checked no baggage, but was not identified for any additional screening.
b) The TSA, which had been calling for more full-body scanners at airports in the US well before the attack, has renewed its call for their increased use. One hundred and fifty scanners (in addition to the forty currently in operation in the US) will be distributed; the TSA plans to buy 300 more scanners in 2010.
c) The Transportation Security Administration emphasized the need for "full body pat-down and physical inspection of property" for all people who are citizens of or are flying through or from nations with significant terrorist activity.
d) Federal officials have also announced that passengers on international US-bound flights will be required to remain in their seats for the last hour of flights, and will not be allowed to have anything in their laps.
- What is a full-body scanner, and why is their use controversial? What are the arguments for and against their use?
Full-body scanners are screening technologies which allow federal officials to observe items concealed under clothing by revealing the contours of the body. They are currently in use in nineteen airports around the country. Their use is controversial because some say they amount to an invasion of privacy. They allow the government to capture what are naked images of Americans suspected of no wrong-doing. Advocates of the scanners point out that they are used on a voluntary basis (those who object to their use can submit to a full-body pat down) and that their use could prevent more terrorist attacks. The bomb concealed in Abdulmutallab’s underwear, for example, might have been identified.
- Do you believe that full-body scanners are a constitutional government practice in the attempt to balance liberty and security? Why or why not?
Some students may say they are constitutional, because they are a reasonable way to detect explosives on airplanes, which have been the repeated target of terrorists. They may say that their use is carefully monitored, faces can be blocked from view, and the machines have been modified to prevent the storing of images. Others may say they are unconstitutional. Requiring all citizens, even those suspected of no wrong-doing, to submit to full-body scans in order to get on a plane would be an unreasonable search prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. They may say that increased security measures lead to even greater security measures, and each measure becomes more and more invasive until citizens have no expectation of privacy, ironically losing the freedom they were trying to protect.
