#MeTooByTSA spotlights TSA abuse; screener arrested for felony sexual battery after pat-downWhile we all want good airport security, the abundance of admitted striking of passengers' genitals by TSA screeners is not being tracked by TSA. Just like the MeToo movement, #MeTooByTSA seeks to draw attention to abuses of authority, for which TSA admits to paying screeners $250 cash bonuses after they strike or abuse passengers ( https://bit.ly/ TSA's excuse in court – even cited by the federal court as implausible – is that TSA screeners claim to still not know that they should not hit or strike compliant passengers' testicles or genitals! This is the testimony of ex-TSA screener Michael Gerard Polson of Odenton, Maryland and his TSA and DOJ attorneys, who was arrested for felony sexual battery after admitting to willfully striking an off-duty airline pilot's genitals for no reason during a pat-down. Instead of apologizing and developing procedures to avoid passenger abuse, TSA is trying to receive national immunity to strike passengers' genitals without reason or provocation (per 4th Circuit Appeals Court case 18-1303, JL v. Polson, from EDVA 17cv13 https://bit.ly/ Civil Rights Defense Network, advocating for the traveling public, believes that TSA's behavior is a gross and improper expansion of government overreach, and believes the American public will not tolerate this clear incursion into airline passengers' rights and fundamental civil liberties. If the appeal wins, it will establish national precedent for screener accountability for individual capacity 4th Amendment Bivens lawsuits in case of claims for unreasonable use of excessive force, likely requiring TSA screeners to have insurance (already available to them as part of their TSA union contract). If not, it will be permanent open season on passengers, with nationwide TSA immunity from lawsuits, even in the case of gratuitous and completely unnecessary force. Either way, this case will change the way TSA implements security pat-downs, and TSA's obligations to not strike passengers' genitals despite their excuse of not knowing that that would be illegal, as a daily reminder of TSA's culture of abuse reflected in #MeTooByTSA. End
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