Dear Senator Boxer,

First, let me congratulate you on your recent electoral victory. The importance of having you in Washington representing California’s interests, especially considering the alternative, cannot be overstated.

I’m writing to express my extreme concern and distress over the Transportation Security Agency’s new policies of whole-body imaging and “enhanced” pat-downs at airport checkpoints.

As you must be aware, the whole-body imaging scanners use ionizing radiation to photograph travelers through their clothes, creating a clear image of their naked bodies. TSA claims that these images “cannot be stored or transmitted” have already been proven false. There are no exemptions for children of any age going through these machines and TSA regulations do not exclude from employment convicted sexual abusers whose crime was more than ten years ago.

If a traveller “opts out” of having their naked x-ray photograph taken, they are instead subject to what TSA calls an “enhanced” pat-down, wherein the traveler’s entire body is groped, squeezed and manhandled, including genitalia and women’s breasts. Again, there is no exemption for children, and recent reports show children as young as three years old being subjected to these procedures. In any context, unwanted contact of this kind is rightly termed sexual abuse.

Senator, the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution states “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” In no way can the act of purchasing an airline ticket or attempting to board a plane be “probable cause” absent any other suspicion. Certainly no Warrants for these invasive and unreasonable searches are issued before the searches are performed.

TSA agents have stated that travelers “give up their rights when purchasing a plane ticket,” but our Declaration of Independence is very clear in that we are “endowed by [our] Creator with certain unalienable Rights” which cannot be abjured by any government agency.

I see that the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a hearing on Thursday, November 17, 2010, and TSA Administrator Pistole is scheduled to testify. I hope and plead with you, Senator, to question Administrator Pistole on these new procedures, and to take whatever action you can to see that they are abated, and soon.

Respectfully yours,

Andrew Rich
116 Mission Drive
Palo Alto, California 94303
650-270-5863
andrew.rich@project-insomnia.com

Update: I know that there are two varieties of naked body scanners, and only one uses ionizing radiation; the other uses radio frequencies. I’m sure the Senator is or will be aware of this as well. It wasn’t an intentional omission.