Thursday, July 19, 2012
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was told a year ago by a federal appellate court to hold public hearings about the use of full-body scanners at airport checkpoints. The TSA has yet to follow the court’s order while continuing to utilize the intrusive scanners on airline passengers.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed the original lawsuit against TSA to stop the use of the scanners. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia set aside EPIC’s constitutional challenge in July 2011.
But the three-judge appellate court said the TSA violated federal law in 2009 when it formally adopted the Advanced Imaging Technology scanners without first gathering input from the public.
So the court ordered the agency “to act promptly” and hold public hearings and publicly adopt rules and regulations about the scanners’ use.
To date, the TSA has not held a single hearing on the scanners. Its lawyers insist the agency will propose the rules eventually.
Lorie Dankers, a TSA spokeswoman, told Wired in an email that the announcement of the public comment process “will be published in the Federal Register next year.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
To Learn More:
TSA Fails to Comply With Year-Old ‘Nude’ Body-Scanner Court Order (by David Kravets, Wired)
Dallas TSA Accused of Body-Scanning Women with Attractive Figures (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)
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