Green Party official busted at gunpoint

[Nathan Newman]

I'm not sure the airlines are as vulnerable to lawsuit on these issues as
Justin makes out, especially in the new climate.  I am curious if Oden got
to the airport late and the detaining was based on a need for a "thorough"
search.  Airlines have a lot of discretion to "profile" people for drug and
other detaining for public safety.  The right to travel is a right, but the
right to drive a car or especially ride a plane has less protection.  As I
rememeber, a lot of 4th amendment challenges to search procedures at
airports have been defeated by courts saying that people didn't have to ride
the airplane, so they lost no rights by having a search imposed as a
condition of travel.

Preventing travel on a privately owned airplane for "legitimate" security
worries  - with "legitimate" expanded under the present hysteria- could
easily be upheld by the courts.  There has been plenty of evidence before
this that political figures have been subjected to expanded search at
airports, so preventing travel is just an escalation of that already evident
practice.

Nathan
nathan at newman.org

----- Original Message -----
From: "Justin Schwartz" <jkschw at hotmail.com>
To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2001 10:51 AM
Subject: Re: Green Party official busted at gunpoint

Bigotry is constitutionally protected, but so is opposing the war. I hope
Oden and the Greens contact the ACLU or the NLG and sue the hell out of the
government and the airlines, acting as the govt's agent and in concert with
them. Punitive damages are available under 42 USC 1983 for violations of
your constitutional rights, not only, here, First Amendment rights, but also
her rights of interstate travel, a privile and immunity under the 14th
amendment This is blatantly illegal and very scary. Welcome to the era of
the USA Patriot Act, where you have to destroy democracy in order to save
it. End the war now! jks


>
>X-From_: radred at ix.netcom.com  Sat Nov  3 09:31:02 2001
>XGREEN PARTY USA COORDINATOR DETAINED AT AIRPORT
>PREVENTED BY ARMED MILITARY FROM FLYING TO GREENS
>MEETING IN CHICAGO
>
>"I was targeted because the Green Party USA opposes the bombing
>of innocent civilians in Afghanistan."
>--Nancy Oden
>
>>
>Armed government agents grabbed Nancy Oden, Green Party USA
>coordinating committee member, Thursday at Bangor International
>Airport in Bangor Maine, as she attempted to board an American
>Airlines flight to Chicago.
>
>"An official told me that my name had been flagged in the computer,"
>a shaken Oden said. "I was targeted because the Green Party USA
>opposes the bombing of innocent civilians in Afghanistan."
>

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