Airport security screening

The 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.

Recognize those words? They are what is known as the 4th amendment to the United States Constitution. They protect citizens from search/seizure except when a judge has authorized said act based upon demonstrable probable cause that a crime has taken place, in the process of taking place, or about to take place.

Now, for starters, the commercial airline industry has fallen into little more than a government run outfit, feigning free market competition. Government bailouts to airlines who can make a profit, anti-smoking laws, and restrictions on passengers carrying weapons on board are a few examples. However, the screening of passengers on flights operated by Delta, United, American and others is perhaps the biggest downfall of the federalization of air travel. The feds cannot or will not use racial profiling for fear of lawsuits for discrimination, likely coming from the ACLU.

What are the recourses available to us as average citizens? Well, I don't think that complaining to the people running the security checkpoints at the airports have any authority to change policy, so I see two options. One, boycott the airlines. When air travel is dramatically diminished enough, the companies and the government will have to listen to the wants and needs of the consumers. Two, continue to fly. Doing so will send a loud message to authorities that you don't mind the invasive and silly screening procedures. The government will continue to assume that Americans are willing to go along with having our grandparents and children searched unmercifully so as to not "offend" an innocent Muslim.

In any case, perhaps this failure of government to adequately deal with the situation will give rise to a new industry. Individuals chartering planes and flying people between cities according to their own rates, screening regulations, smoking policies, and time schedules. As usual, the free market may prove more effective than government bureaucracy.