Friday, May 19, 2017

Court: Protests are not free speech when the TSA is involved

What happens if you do the obvious: insist on an actual strip search to protest a virtual strip search? Hopefully, the courts protect your 1st Amendment right to protest. But, they may also find you guilty of violating the unlawful orders of an unlawful agency, then hold you liable for the bloated agency's over-reaction.

Would you accept the guilty verdict and pay the modest fine, content that your free speech argument was partially honored? Maybe you would appeal to a higher court. This is what the protestor from 2012 did.

Unfortunately, the appeals court recently maintained his conviction: You can't voluntarily strip naked at a TSA checkpoint.