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Appeals Court Caves To TSA Over Nude Body Scanners

Posted by timothy on from the privilege-of-free-movement-and-assembly dept.

OverTheGeicoE writes "The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) recently filed a petition to force the Department of Homeland Security to start its public comment period on body scanners within 60 days or stop using them entirely. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has issued its ruling (PDF), and has refused EPIC's petition. DHS told the court earlier that it expected to have a formal rule proposal on body scanners by the end of February, so the court denied EPIC's motion on the expectation that public comment period would start by late March. TFA and this submission have a pessimistic headline on this ruling, but other sources seem to think the glass is half-full, and that EPIC in effect got what it wanted. Is this a victory or a defeat? Will the rulemaking process start on time, or will a TSA dog eat the proposed rule in late March and force further delay?"

4 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds like defeat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    If it means we still have the TSA and their nudie scanners then we all lose, whether we realize it or not.

    1. Re:Sounds like defeat by kiriath · · Score: 5, Informative

      So being seen naked / groped-by-strangers is a valid requirement for flying and we should all just get over it?

      You're a moron.

    2. Re:Sounds like defeat by ZeroSumHappiness · · Score: 5, Informative

      Flying is a privilege, not a right.

      Wrong.

      Current US Code addresses air travel specifically. In 49 U.S.C. 40103, "Sovereignty and use of airspace", the Code specifies that "A citizen of the United States has a public right of transit through the navigable airspace."

      This comes out of the common law right to freedom of movement which includes the use of conveyances appropriate to the time. Our modern society operates on the assumption of a right to air travel.

  2. Fact: the court caved by DeadCatX2 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I suggest reading up on this case a bit...

    In November 2010, EPIC sued DHS because the body scanners suck. http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/11/05/158250/epic-files-lawsuit-to-suspend-airport-body-scanner-use

    In July 2011, a court found that DHS had improperly deployed the scanners by not providing a period for public comment. The court allowed the scans to continue on the condition that they have a public comment period. http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/07/17/0143233/Court-Approves-TSA-Body-Scans-But-Calls-For-Public-Comment

    By July 2012, there had STILL not been a public comment period. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/07/11/2113239/dhs-still-stonewalling-on-body-scanning-ruling-one-year-later

    And here we are, September 2012, and the appeals court says look, I know DHS was told to do public comment and it's been over a year and they still haven't done it, but they promise they're really going to do it this time in March 2013, so we're going to take their word for it even though they ignored the previous court order for a public comment period.

    Any characterization other than "cave" fails to describe the situation in historical context.

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