Originally Posted by BonzoAPD
Mike, if these people are not US citizens, why do we need to even worry about their 4th Ammendment rights?
Ted Kennedy isn't a US citizen? Business travelers aren't US citizens?
Originally Posted by antarius
I'm not saying we can't improve upon the system, I just don't think it's spread "too wide" as you think.
Apparently a lot of business travelers who hop around the country end up on this list because of "suspicious flying patterns."
Another problem is that people who have the same first and last name but a different middle name from someone on the list periodically get stopped because the system doesn't automatically check middle initials.
Originally Posted by DVPGSR
Would you rather a mistake happen to Teddy Kennedy and he missed his flight or to the fictional person Ramzi al-Mustafa who was able to get onto a flight because of an oversight and ram it into the Empire State Building or the Sears Tower?
I preffer to err on the side of caution.
You guys all consider making overbroad security sweeps "erring on the side of caution." I personally would rather see the same level of effectiveness in flagging actual terrorists without making the rest of the people submit to any controls.
Fourth amendment rights are very much a slippery slope, and as soon as the people get complacent about their willingness to be unduly searched, the more potential there is for abuse of those fourth amendment rights.