Fed Court says Although TSA Cops Wear Badges, Uniform & Call Themselves Officers They are Not Cops & Thus are Immune From Suits for Molesting or Falsely Arresting Travelers

From [HERE] The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] Wednesday that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) [official website] is immune from certain claims brought by passengers alleging wrongdoing.

In a 2-1 ruling, the court held that TSA officers are not “investigative or law enforcement officers,” and therefore are protected by federal law against certain tort claims.

The Court ruled that TSA agents can not be sued for molesting or falsely arresting air travelers.

Citing a previous ruling, the court noted that, “[r]einforcing the distinction we recognized in Vanderklok, the [Aviation and Transportation Security Act] frequently distinguishes between ’employees’ who conduct administrative searches and ‘law enforcement officers.'”:

[Amicus for petitioner] argues that TSOs must qualify as “law enforcement officers” because of their title—they are “transportation security officers”—and because they wear a badge that labels them as “officers.” We are not persuaded that the word “officer” has this talismanic property.

In his dissent Judge Thomas Ambro said:

[M]y colleagues … equate airport screenings with routine administrative inspections, even though the former involve rigorous and thorough searches that often extend to an individual’s physical person. Their opinion leaves several plaintiffs without a remedy, even if a TSO assaults them, wrongfully detains them, or fabricates criminal charges against them.

Wednesday's decision was a defeat for Nadine Pellegrino, a business consultant from Boca Raton, Florida. She and her husband had sued for false arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution over a July 2006 altercation at Philadelphia International Airport.

If this ruling does not make Americans stand up and demand a change then expect things to get worse, much worse.

The courts have essentially allowed DHS to do whatever it wants, even if that means creating a watch list of complainers.

Two months ago the New York Times warned Americans that the TSA is creating a watch list of anyone that complains about being groped.  

A five-page directive obtained by The New York Times said actions that pose physical danger to security screeners — or other contact that the agency described as “offensive and without legal justification” — could land travelers on the watch list, which was created in February and is also known as a “95 list.”

It is time to face reality, the courts are working with the Federal Government to destroy our Bill of Rights.

Everyone's rights are being threatened when government agents are allowed to molest and falsely arrest people. [MORE]