June, 18 2009, 03:10pm EDT
ACLU MEDIA to news show details 2:23 PM (46 minutes ago) Reply Follow up message ACLU Sues DHS Over Unlawful TSA Searches And Detention
Treasurer Of Ron Paul's Campaign For Liberty Detained And Interrogated For Carrying Cash At St. Louis Airport
WASHINGTON
The
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is subjecting innocent
Americans to unreasonable searches and detentions that violate the
Constitution, according to a lawsuit filed today by the American Civil
Liberties Union. The ACLU filed the complaint on behalf of a traveler
who was illegally detained and harassed by TSA agents at the airport
for carrying approximately $4,700 in cash.
"Airport searches are the most
common encounters between Americans and law enforcement agents. That's
why it is so important for TSA agents to do the job they were trained
to do and not engage in fishing expeditions that do nothing to promote
flight safety," said Ben Wizner, a staff attorney with the ACLU
National Security Project. "It is, of course, very important to ensure
the safety of flights and keep illegal weapons and explosives off
planes. But allowing TSA screeners to conduct general purpose law
enforcement searches violates the Constitution while diverting limited
resources from TSA's core mission of protecting safety. For the sake of
public safety and constitutional values, these unlawful searches should
stop."
On March 29, 2009, Steven Bierfeldt
was detained in a small room at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
and interrogated by TSA officials for nearly half an hour after he
passed a metal box containing cash through a security checkpoint X-ray
machine. Bierfeldt was carrying the cash in connection with his duties
as the Director of Development for the Campaign for Liberty, a
political organization that grew out of Congressman Ron Paul's
presidential campaign.
Bierfeldt was detained and
questioned as he returned home from a Campaign for Liberty event
transporting proceeds from the sale of tickets, t-shirts, stickers and
campaign material. Bierfeldt repeatedly asked the agents to explain the
scope of their authority to detain and interrogate him and received no
explanation. Instead, the agents escalated the threatening tone of
their questions and ultimately told Bierfeldt that he was being placed
under arrest. Bierfeldt recorded the audio of the entire incident with
his iPhone.
"I do not believe I should give up
my constitutional rights each time I choose to travel by plane. I was
doing nothing illegal or suspicious, yet I was treated like a potential
criminal and harassed for no reason," said Bierfeldt. "Most Americans
would be surprised to learn that TSA considers simply carrying cash to
be a basis for detention and questioning. I hope the court makes clear
that my detention by TSA agents was unconstitutional and stops TSA from
engaging in these unlawful searches and arrests. I do not want another
innocent American to have to endure what I went through."
"Mr. Bierfeldt's experience
represents a troubling pattern of TSA attempting to transform its valid
but limited search authority into a license to invade people's privacy
in a manner that would never be accepted outside the airport context,"
said Larry Schwartztol, a staff attorney with the ACLU National
Security Project. "Just as the Constitution prevents the police on the
street from conducting freewheeling searches in the hopes of uncovering
wrongdoing, it protects travelers from the kind of treatment Mr.
Bierfeldt suffered."
TSA officials have the authority to
conduct safety-related searches for weapons and explosives. According
to the ACLU's lawsuit, TSA agents are using heightened security
measures after 9/11 as an excuse to exceed their search authority and
engage in unlawful searches that violate the privacy rights of
passengers. The lawsuit also charges that unconstitutional searches and
detention by TSA agents have become the norm.
The ACLU's lawsuit was filed against
Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security,
which has authority over TSA. It was filed in federal court in
Washington, D.C.
Attorneys on the case are Wizner,
Scott Michelman and Allen Hopper of the ACLU, Art Spitzer of the ACLU
National Capital Area and cooperating attorney Alan Gura of Gura and
Possessky, P.L.L.C.
More information about the case,
including the ACLU's complaint and an audio recording of Bierfeldt's
detention and interrogation, is available online at: www.aclu.org/safefree/general/39922res20090618.html
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
(212) 549-2666LATEST NEWS
2024 Still on Track to Be First Full Year That Breached 1.5°C
"No surprise at all, but still shocking news. Will temperatures drop below 1.5°C again? I have my doubts," said one climate scientist.
Dec 09, 2024
Data from the first 11 months of 2024 reaffirmed that the globe is set to pass a grim mile stone this year, according to the European Union's earth observation program.
The E.U.'s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a report Monday that November 2024 was 1.62°C above the preindustrial level, making it the 16th month in a 17-month stretch during which global-average surface air temperature breached 1.5°C. November 2024 was the second-warmest November, after November of last year, according to C3S.
"At this point, it is effectively certain that 2024 is going to be the warmest year on record and more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level," according to a Monday statement from C3S. With data for November in hand, the service estimates that global temperature is set to be 1.59°C above the pre-industrial level for 2024, up from 1.48°C last year.
C3S announced last month that 2024 was "virtually certain" to be the hottest year on record after October 2024 hit 1.65°C higher than preindustrial levels.
"This does not mean that the Paris Agreement has been breached, but it does mean ambitious climate action is more urgent than ever," said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S.
Under the 2015 Paris agreement, signatory countries pledged to reduce their global greenhouse gas emissions with the aim of keeping global temperature rise this century to 1.5ºC, well below 2°C above preindustrial levels. According to the United Nations, going above 1.5ºC on an annual or monthly basis doesn't constitute failure to reach the agreement's goal, which refers to temperature rise over decades—however, "breaches of 1.5°C for a month or a year are early signs of getting perilously close to exceeding the long-term limit, and serve as clarion calls for increasing ambition and accelerating action in this critical decade."
Additionally, a recent paper in the journal Naturewarned of irreversible impacts from overshooting the 1.5ºC target, even temporarily.
Climate scientist and volcanologist Bill McGuire reacted to the news Monday, saying: "Average temperature for 2024 expected to be 1.60°C. A massive hike on 2023, which itself was the hottest year for probably 120,000 years. No surprise at all, but still shocking news. Will temperatures drop below 1.5°C again? I have my doubts."
The update comes on the heels of COP29, the most recent U.N. climate summit, which many climate campaigners viewed as a disappointment. During the summit, attendees sought to reach a climate financing agreement that would see rich, developed countries contribute money to help developing countries decarbonize and deal with the impacts of the climate emergency. The final dollar amount, according to critics, fell far short of what developing countries need.
Keep ReadingShow Less
ABC Anchor Rebuked for Claiming Popular, Cost-Saving Medicare for All Won't Happen
"The D.C. media insists nothing can ever happen," said one progressive journalist. "It's the press corps' Jedi mind trick."
Dec 09, 2024
Advocates for a government-run healthcare program applauded U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna for pushing back during a Sunday morning interview in which ABC News anchor Martha Raddatz casually dismissed Medicare for All as a proposal that has no chance of ever being implemented.
Khanna (D-Calif.) spoke to Raddatz days after the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City—an event that brought to the surface simmering, widespread fury over the for-profit health insurance industry's denial of coverage, high deductibles, and other obstacles placed in the way of Americans when they try to obtain both routine and emergency healthcare.
The congressman said he was "not surprised" by the response to the killing, in which the suspect has yet to be named or found by authorities five days later.
"I mean, people are getting denied cancer treatment," said Khanna. "It's absurd in this country, what's going on."
Raddatz noted that Khanna last week reposted a message from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on the social media platform X, in which the senator pointed to the country's exorbitant spending on healthcare administrative costs—15-25% of total healthcare expenditures, or as much as $1 trillion per year.
"'Healthcare is a human right. We need Medicare for All,'" Raddatz read before adding her own perspective: "That's not really going to happen, so what would you say to those Americans who are frustrated right now?"
Khanna quickly pushed back, saying he believes Sanders is "absolutely right."
"I believe we can make Medicare for All happen," he said, pointing out that Sanders was responding to billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk, who President-elect Donald Trump has nominated to lead a proposed body called the Department of Government Efficiency, denouncing high healthcare administrative costs last week.
That spending is far higher than the 2% spent by Medicare on administration and results in lower life expectancy, more preventable deaths, high infant and maternal mortality rates, and other poor health outcomes.
Skepticism of the for-profit healthcare system from one of Trump's closest right-wing allies mirrors public support for Medicare for All, which comes from across the political spectrum.
In 2020, a Gallup poll found that 63% of Americans backed at single national health plan to provide coverage for all Americans, including more than a third of Republicans and Independents who lean Republican, and 88% of Democrats. Another American Barometer survey in 2018 found 52% of Republicans supported Medicare for All.
Khanna said Musk's comments indicate that "finally, after years, Sanders is winning this debate and we should be moving towards Medicare for All."
Kenneth Zinn, former political director of National Nurses United, asked, "Who is Martha Raddatz to say" that Medicare for All—which would cost $650 billion less than the current for-profit system, according to a Congressional Budget Office analysis—is "not really going to happen."
"This is how the corporate media tries to shut down the discussion or narrow the parameters. The majority of Americans support Medicare for All," said Zinn.
David Sirota of The Leverapplauded Khanna's "direct pushback" against the commonly accepted assumption that expanding the popular and efficient Medicare program to all Americans is an impossibility.
"The D.C. media insists nothing can ever happen," he said. "It's the press corps' Jedi mind trick. Ro called bullshit—which is the right response. [Medicare for All] won't happen overnight, but it CAN eventually happen."
In 2019, Khanna himself slammed "Beltway pundits" for dismissing Medicare for All as "unrealistic and too expensive" even as the U.S. was shown to spend twice as much per capita on healthcare as other countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
"Points well-taken, Congressman," said former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner on Sunday. "The United States is the only industrialized nation without universal healthcare. It is immoral, unacceptable, and costly not to have Medicare for All."
Keep ReadingShow Less
EPA Bans Known Carcinogens Used in Dry Cleaning, Other Industries
"Both of these chemicals have caused too much harm for too long, despite the existence of safer alternatives," said one environmental campaigner.
Dec 09, 2024
The Biden administration's Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a permanent ban on a pair of carcinogenic chemicals widely used in U.S. industries, including dry cleaning services and automative work.
According to the Washington Post:
The announcement includes the complete ban of trichloroethylene—also known as TCE—a substance found in common consumer and manufacturing products including degreasing agents, furniture care and auto repair products. In addition, the agency banned all consumer uses and many commercial uses of Perc—also known as tetrachloroethylene and PCE — an industrial solvent long used in applications such as dry cleaning and auto repair.
Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, applauded the move but suggested to the Post that it should have come sooner.
"Both of these chemicals have caused too much harm for too long, despite the existence of safer alternatives," Kalmuss-Katz.
The EPA's decision, reports the New York Times, was "long sought by environmental and health advocates, even as they braced for what could be a wave of deregulation by the incoming Trump administration."
The Timesreports:
TCE is known to cause liver cancer, kidney cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and to damage the nervous and immune systems. It has been found in drinking water nationwide and was the subject of a 1995 book that became a movie, “A Civil Action,” starring John Travolta. The E.P.A. is banning all uses of the chemical under the Toxic Substances Control Act, which was overhauled in 2016 to give the agency greater authority to regulate harmful chemicals.
Though deemed "less harmful" than TCE, the Times notes how Perc has been shown to "cause liver, kidney, brain and testicular cancer," and can also damage the functioning of kidneys, the liver, and people's immune systems.
Environmentalists celebrated last year when Biden's EPA proposed the ban on TCE, as Common Dreamsreported.
Responding to the news at the time, Scott Faber, senior vice president for government affairs at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), said the EPA, by putting the ban on the table, was "once again putting the health of workers and consumers first."
While President-elect Donald Trump ran on a having an environmental agenda that would foster the "cleanest air" and the "cleanest water," the late approval of EPA's ban on TCE and Perc in Biden's term means the rule will be subject to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), meaning the Republican-control Senate could reverse the measure.
In his remarks to the Times, Kalmuss-Katz of Earthjustice said that if Trump and Senate Republicans try to roll back the ban, they will be certain to "encounter serious opposition from communities across the country that have been devastated by TCE, in both blue and red states."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular