September 7, 2011
TSA Searches: "Obedience Training For The American Public"
That's how Zahir Ebrahim, of Project Humanbeingsfirst.com, rightly termed the TSA searches -- in his comment on the blog item that led to TSA agent Thedala Magee's demands of me.
Magee is looking for me to pay her $500K, apologize to her, and take down my blog item about her -- because I had the nerve to exercise my First Amendment rights and complain after she jammed her hand sideways into my vagina four times. (Unfortunately for Ms. Magee, I've always made a pretty crappy victim.)
What the TSA searches themselves say about where we're going as a country is the larger issue here, and one I'll be home writing about all day today (I'm doing on op-ed as step two of this. It's not only an explanation of what went on, but a call to action.)
I grew up reading books about Russia and thinking how great it was that no authority figure in America ever demanded our "papers" without reasonable suspicion that we've committed a crime. This is no more the case, and that is tragic and terrible.
I have the Cato Institute copy of the Constitution and Bill of Rights on my phone and read them often. I see that the Fourth Amendment guards us against unreasonable and warrantless search, but that is exactly what millions of Americans are being put through daily, sans probable cause.
Our country was started by people who were fiercely opposed to blind obedience to authority. Oh, how disappointingly -- and dangerously -- far we've fallen.
In recent years, there's been an overreach of government into many areas of our lives -- telling us what kind of lightbulbs we're allowed to use, and the lady in Oak Park, Michigan who faced 93 days in jail for growing vegetables where her front lawn was "supposed" to be.
Encroachments like the light bulb mandate may seem minor compared to the vile TSA searches in the name of "security," but they are part and parcel of the whole.
Every time we relax and allow Big Government to rule us a little more, every time we let one more Constitutional right be taken from us without so much as a peep, it makes it that much easier to take the next one and the next one, until we wake up one day and wonder how we ended up living in a police state.
...
And finally, thank you to everyone expressing support for me here, by email, and on other websites.
It's been a tough few months (it's scary to possibly be on the hook for the rest of my life to support this woman when I was the one victimized here).
But, I was lucky in that I have an absolutely wonderful guy behind me -- First Amendment lawyer Marc Randazza, who took my case pro bono, and who just asked that I pay any costs (which he said he'd try to keep really low, and which, at this point are maybe just postage. As in, a 44-cent stamp!).
I don't like to not pay people for their work. When I told him I was sorry that, well, this wasn't exactly the golden age of newspapers (or book-authoring), he told me, "Some cases are too important to need to get paid for." I wanted to hug him through the phone.
Marc and two of his associates (Jason A. Fischer and J. Malcolm Devoy) have put in a substantial amount of work on this, and he, himself, personally challenges the "officers," verbally and otherwise when he goes through these checkpoints.
My absolute favorite thing he does when he gets a patdown is stick out his middle finger on each hand. It's his way of showing these people -- people earning a living violating our rights -- the respect they deserve.
I hope some of you will follow his lead, and mine, and those of others who've spoken out. If there's any message here, it's this: Don't go quietly as they yank away your rights.
UPDATE: Even though Marc and his associates are being gracious with their time, there is a bill, and somebody (who understands that legal fees are hundreds of dollars an hour, and that they've spent many hours) just asked if he could donate, which is wonderful.
If you wish to contribute to my legal defense fund, please mail checks to:
Randazza Legal Group
PO Box 5516
Gloucester, MA 01930
Note on memo line, Alkon LDF
Showing posts with label Rape Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rape Blog. Show all posts
Thursday, September 08, 2011
TSA Rape?
Thursday, September 08, 2011
First Amendment rights on the internet at the heart of this case
As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, many will take the time to not only reflect upon the day itself, but also the decade following the WTC attacks. American life has changed dramatically since that day, but it's not always easy to cite tangible examples of how it has changed.
But sometimes it is. And the TSA is one entity that has gained quite a bit of attention since then. As airports have continued to implement stronger safety measures over the last decade, many have put the Transportation Security Administration into the crosshairs, railing against random searches and pat-downs - which they say violate some of their basic human rights. One thing on which we can all agree - getting patted down in an airport isn't a whole lot of fun.
What is the limit of free speech on the internet? In a situation where no facts have been entered into the legal record, should someone be able to make accusations in a blog post? Let us know in the comments.
One woman had a particularly nasty experience during a TSA pat-down. According to columnist and blogger Amy Alkon, her experience with a particular TSA agent went way past uncomfortable.
In a blog post, Alkon details a March 31st incident where she accuses a TSA agent of "raping" her with her hand during a public pat-down in Los Angeles.
Alkon writes about her disapproval of the whole procedure in general, saying that the pat-downs are both a physical violation as well as a constitutional one. On that day, she admits that she decided to make a scene on purpose, to bring attention to what she thinks is an unfair act, "to make it uncomfortable for them to violate us and our rights," she said. So she began sobbing, loudly. According to Alkon, this was what happened next -
Upon leaving, still sobbing, I yelled to the woman, "YOU RAPED ME." And I took her name to see if I could file sexual assault charges on my return. This woman, and all of those who support this system deserve no less than this sort of unpleasant experience, and from all of us.
Apparently, the lawsuit idea fell through as her lawyer told her she had an unwinnable case.
But now, the TSA agent in question is threatening to sue Alkon for her blog post, claiming defamation. Thedala Magee has asked for $500,000 as well as the removal of the blog post.
It doesn't look like Alkon is going to comply with that request, as she writes today on her blog -
She has also gained the services of a First Amendment lawyer named Marc Randazza who is working the case pro bono.
The letter that Magee sent Alkon requesting the monetary damages and the retraction of the "rape" allegations says that the "outbursts in public and writings on the internet" have subjected Magee to "hatred, contempt, and ridicule" and caused her "severe emotional distress, fear, and problems doing her duty."
Alkon's lawyer Randazza sent a letter back, saying -
He then quotes precedent defending the use of the word "rape" as hyperbolic language. So even if Magee didn't "rape" Alkon in some meaning of the word, he says that she has the right to characterize it as such.
First Amendment rights on the internet at the heart of this case
As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, many will take the time to not only reflect upon the day itself, but also the decade following the WTC attacks. American life has changed dramatically since that day, but it's not always easy to cite tangible examples of how it has changed.
But sometimes it is. And the TSA is one entity that has gained quite a bit of attention since then. As airports have continued to implement stronger safety measures over the last decade, many have put the Transportation Security Administration into the crosshairs, railing against random searches and pat-downs - which they say violate some of their basic human rights. One thing on which we can all agree - getting patted down in an airport isn't a whole lot of fun.
What is the limit of free speech on the internet? In a situation where no facts have been entered into the legal record, should someone be able to make accusations in a blog post? Let us know in the comments.
One woman had a particularly nasty experience during a TSA pat-down. According to columnist and blogger Amy Alkon, her experience with a particular TSA agent went way past uncomfortable.
In a blog post, Alkon details a March 31st incident where she accuses a TSA agent of "raping" her with her hand during a public pat-down in Los Angeles.
Alkon writes about her disapproval of the whole procedure in general, saying that the pat-downs are both a physical violation as well as a constitutional one. On that day, she admits that she decided to make a scene on purpose, to bring attention to what she thinks is an unfair act, "to make it uncomfortable for them to violate us and our rights," she said. So she began sobbing, loudly. According to Alkon, this was what happened next -
Nearing the end of this violation, I sobbed even louder as the woman, FOUR TIMES, stuck the side of her gloved hand INTO my vagina, through my pants. Between my labia. She really got up there. Four times. Back right and left, and front right and left. In my vagina. Between my labia. I was shocked -- utterly unprepared for how she got the side of her hand up there. It was government-sanctioned sexual assault.
Upon leaving, still sobbing, I yelled to the woman, "YOU RAPED ME." And I took her name to see if I could file sexual assault charges on my return. This woman, and all of those who support this system deserve no less than this sort of unpleasant experience, and from all of us.
Apparently, the lawsuit idea fell through as her lawyer told her she had an unwinnable case.
But now, the TSA agent in question is threatening to sue Alkon for her blog post, claiming defamation. Thedala Magee has asked for $500,000 as well as the removal of the blog post.
It doesn't look like Alkon is going to comply with that request, as she writes today on her blog -
Magee is looking for me to pay her $500K, apologize to her, and take down my blog item about her -- because I had the nerve to exercise my First Amendment rights and complain after she jammed her hand sideways into my vagina four times. (Unfortunately for Ms. Magee, I've always made a pretty crappy victim.)
She has also gained the services of a First Amendment lawyer named Marc Randazza who is working the case pro bono.
The letter that Magee sent Alkon requesting the monetary damages and the retraction of the "rape" allegations says that the "outbursts in public and writings on the internet" have subjected Magee to "hatred, contempt, and ridicule" and caused her "severe emotional distress, fear, and problems doing her duty."
Alkon's lawyer Randazza sent a letter back, saying -
Your client aggressively pushed her fingers into my client's vulva. I am certain that she did not expect to find a bomb there. She did this to humiliate my client, to punish her for exercising her rights, and to send a message to others who might do the same. It was absolutely a sexual assault, perpetrated in order to exercise power over the victim. We agree with Ms. Alkon's characterization of this crime as "rape," and so would any reasonable juror.
He then quotes precedent defending the use of the word "rape" as hyperbolic language. So even if Magee didn't "rape" Alkon in some meaning of the word, he says that she has the right to characterize it as such.
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