Supreme Court Won't Hear Body-Scanner Appeal

stevegee58 writes "After a long string of legal setbacks, the case brought by Jonathan Corbett challenging TSA's use of full body scanners and enhanced pat-downs has come to an end. Today the Supreme Court declined to hear the case, so current TSA practices will stand. The TSA started allowing the use of the advanced imaging technology in October 2010."

Comments

well,

[Anonymous Coward]

god damn it!

Re:well,

[tsaoutofourpants]

Hello, filer of the lawsuit here. There's perhaps a little bit more to read than what you've read... the first page of my SCOTUS petition or 11th Circuit appellate brief would have cleared things up. :) The brief summary is that my lawsuit was filed in District Court quite intentionally: District Court is the only federal court that has a trial by jury, as well as discovery and witnesses as-of-right. After filing, the TSA invoked a law that was not designed to send challenges to agency "orders" to the US Court of Appeals. The idea behind the law is that some administrative agencies have proceedings with administrative law judges that legitimately should be challenged in the appeals courts. For example, if you try to bring a knife on a plane, the TSA has administrative law judges to assess a civil penalty against you, and you can appeal that decision to the appeals court. However, the TSA has now successfully argued that ANYTHING THEY WRITE DOWN CONSTITUTES AN "ORDER" THAT CANNOT BE THE SUBJECT OF A JURY TRIAL. Think about that for a second: the gatekeepers of our constitutional rights are supposed to be *the people*. Instead, it is now a group of men that are appointed by the President, who happens to be the guy who appoints the head of the TSA who started this mess. My fight against the TSA will continue on in the appeals court, which is the only good news here. You may read more at: http://tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/supreme-court-declines-to-consider-whether-nude-body-scanners-deserve-a-trial/

Re:well,

[pdabbadabba]

Hi there, thanks for replying. I am a lawyer, so I should probably refrain from commenting on the merits of your case too specifically for fear of accidentally giving "legal advice."

I'll just say/ask these few things:

1) It remains the case that the matter on appeal to the Supreme Court was the jurisdictional question, not the merits of your complaint (and the complaints of many others) against the TSA.

2) Regardless of what court you brought suit in, it was always going to be a judge who resolved legal questions like, say, whether TSA's procedures were unconstitutional. A jury would only be tasked with factual questions like figuring out, if it were disputed, what TSA's procedures actually were.

3) Do you have plans to refile in the 6th or DC Circuit?

4) Good luck on your lawsuit.

(It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: I am a lawyer, but I am not your lawyer. I know not nearly enough about you or your case to provide you advice that you could rely on. I am also not admitted to the bar in your jurisdiction so I couldn't be your lawyer even if I wanted to.)

Re:well,

[tsaoutofourpants]

Thank you, and you're quite welcome! There's a donate button on my blog: http://tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.com/ I'm considering trying Kickstarter/Indygogo, but for now, just PayPal. :) --Jon

Re:well,

[tsaoutofourpants]

0) It's ok... I don't accept legal advice from strangers anyway. ;) 1) Yes. 2) Yes, but there are many questions of fact. For example, are the scanners effective (since effectiveness is a part of the balancing test in deciding if a search is reasonable)? See my video on that: http://tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/1b-of-nude-body-scanners-made-worthless-by-blog-how-anyone-can-get-anything-past-the-tsas-nude-body-scanners/ 3) 11th Circuit. The wires have mistakenly reported me as a Michigan resident since I used a Michigan mailing address on court documents. I live in Miami Beach, FL. 4) Thank you. :)

Re:well,

[tsaoutofourpants]

Indeed, although the TSA will argue that that particular law doesn't apply to orders under s. 46110. Stay tuned for that fight.

Re:One thing is missing:

[Mashiki]

Via drudge:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/politics-government/ci_21672132/supreme-court-wont-hear-cases-body-scanners-gay?source=rss
  The Supreme Court won't hear a Michigan man's attempt to challenge the use of full body scanners at airports.

The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal by Jonathan Corbett, who wanted to challenge the Transportation Security Administration's use of full body scanners and/or enhanced pat downs at airport security lines. Federal courts in Florida refused to hear his lawsuit, saying it could only be filed with the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal, and the Supreme Court refused to reopen the case.

The TSA started allowing the use of the advanced imaging technology in October 2010.

Re:One thing is missing:

[OverTheGeicoE]

The plaintiff was hoping to get a jury trial in the district court. All suits regarding TSA in the DC circuit court go straight to appeals, meaning no jury trial is possible there. This is the same court that has been so deferential to DHS in the EPIC suit on the same topic. The plaintiff seemed to think a jury would be more receptive to his arguments.

Is another suit in the DC court worth the trouble? If not, then Mr. Corbett has been about as effective as Jesse Ventura was in his suit.

Re:One thing is missing:

[tsaoutofourpants]

> Is another suit in the DC court worth the trouble? I give that an emphatic, "hell yes." --Mr. Corbett :)