Traveler sues after her joke goes awry

[unformed 0]

that would be why ... i might be wrong here, but i think it's 10% ...

This ad space for sale.

[Lindsey 0]

besides the fact that any freak of nature knows what flour tastes like. The test takes about 2 seconds. Less if you want to rely on your vision rather than taste.

--
A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

If the girl was there at the scene insisting it was flour, she should have offered to eat a few tablespoons full of it to prove it.

"Here, I'll eat a bunch of it. You watch me to see if I seem like I'm coked-up afterward. I'll even volunteer to miss my flight to show you that after an hour I'm still just as I was."

But um, I don't know if you can expect the security people to have been willing to taste-test what she was claiming was flour.

As far as I am concerned, there is NO EXCUSE for a false positive to have occurred to justify jailing her. Just how hard is it for a drug test to tell the difference between cocaine and ordinary flour.

I would imagine that is why she's pissed off and is suing. A simple test should have exculpated her and sent her on her way. It seems true that they criminalized the non-criminal act of making, and possessing, a condom filled with flour, just because they gave it a flawed test!


-Jeffrey


-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[LuvToFly 0]

The thing is, if you have to err in a certain direction, why not err in the direction of not screwing around with the TSA? Hell, I even take my hook knife off of my rig, having sent it through via luggage just to keep 'em calm. One time, they said they detected explosives on my gear bag. Second test proved it wrong.

It's way too tense at the TSA gates to not think about what you are bringing across the gate. Even if it's benign, it can cause you a lot of grief. Why chance it - especially when carrying drugs in condoms is not uncommon? Whether one thinks drugs could "hurt" anyone is really not the point. Don't screw with the gate cops. Relatively speaking, they don't have a lot of knowledge about drugs, so they're going to hang you up there just in case and just to make a point - right or wrong as that might be.

"The helicopter approaches closer than any other to fulfillment
of mankind's ancient dreams of a magic carpet" - Igor Sikorsky

[nathaniel 0]

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If that were so, they could also criminalize saying "Hi" to a security officer, or for that matter, having a sweet ASS!

I like that, it's one of those impossible statements....
If it was a crime to distract a security guard for ordinary people to walk past security...then they would be criminals...but they would not be "distracting" the guards away from criminals...thus they would not be criminals...

My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

So, being a non-criminal who distracts a guard makes you a criminal, and thus you are not a non-criminal distracting a guard from looking for criminals....

Hey, I like it! It makes just as much sense as everything else that the "authorities" do!


-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[BillyVance 35]

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She should be sued for wasting police time and tax payers money.

At the very least, she should be held accountable for what she cost in tax payer money when her suit comes up in court. More than likely the jury will find in her favor, but won't award much, if anything. But then, what do I know. They will take her stupidity into consideration along with the cops' overzealousy.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[RhondaLea 4]

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But I guess the way I see it is there is no legitimate reason for her to be carrying flour in condoms in her suitcase, except to incite/divert/attempt to screw with the security staff.

I don't think it was a joke that had anything to do with the security staff.

College student, remember? I'm sure it was some dumb idea she conceived with her friends and none of them ever contemplated the thought of what might happen at the airport. The target for the joke was probably one of her friends at home.

There's a context for everything, and taking things out of context always makes them look different.

No matter how she carried it, flour is flour, not a drug and certainly not a weapon.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[Scoop 0]

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besides the fact that any freak of nature knows what flour tastes like. The test takes about 2 seconds. Less if you want to rely on your vision rather than taste.

Thats a bit of a dumb statement. In the current climate of hightened alert do you really think an officer or security official would be dipping there finger into an unknown white powdered substance and tasting it

Would you have done that if you received a letter in the post containing a similar substance a couple of years ago?

[Andy9o8 2]

I have carefully read every post in this thread and have determined that every possible facet of every possible angle of this issue has now been covered at least 3 times.
I am therefore going to lock this thread.

Oh, shit!! I'm not a greenie!

Never mind.

[RhondaLea 4]

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besides the fact that any freak of nature knows what flour tastes like. The test takes about 2 seconds. Less if you want to rely on your vision rather than taste.

Thats a bit of a dumb statement. In the current climate of hightened alert do you really think an officer or security official would be dipping there finger into an unknown white powdered substance and tasting it

Scoop, honey, what kind of drug looks like flour?

Seriously.

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Would you have done that if you received a letter in the post containing a similar substance a couple of years ago?

If it looked like flour, I'd have probably made pancakes.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[Scoop 0]

Hehe, ill admit ive not seen many examples of the hard drugs about but the ones I have seen are in all sorts of weird and wonderful states. I guess that just gives law abiding people like me even more reason to deatin people like her while eximinations are run.

Bottom line. She was silly, got caught out. Why should she get any damages as it was a result of her stupidity. You wouldnt walk up to a police officer, spit in his face, then once you ve been arrested try to sue them.

Im sure her little gang think shes really funny though

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Scoop, honey, what kind of drug looks like flour?

WHat kind of a cock end transports flour in condoms?

[RhondaLea 4]

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Scoop, honey, what kind of drug looks like flour?

WHat kind of a cock end transports flour in condoms?

When I was in school, we used to fill them with water and launch them at the frat boys when they tried to reinvent panty raids.

Seems to me this in no more juvenile than flour in someone's rig, eh?

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[Scoop 0]

Its the consequences that are different

I DONT APPROVE!! lol

[AlexCrowley 0]

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Scoop, honey, what kind of drug looks like flour?

Seriously.

Much like cough syrup being a key ingredient of meth, flour is a key ingredient of cookies.

And those will destroy your life.

TV's got them images, TV's got them all, nothing's shocking.

[Samurai136 0]

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I guess that just gives law abiding people like me even more reason to detain people like her while examinations are run.

I think the relevant point you are missing is that "people like her" and "people like you" are actually the same law abiding class of individuals. It is scary that you view yourself as uniquely different from this woman as your constitutional rights are being taken away.

"Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian
Ken

[kallend 2,151]

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The thing is, if you have to err in a certain direction, why not err in the direction of not screwing around with the TSA? Hell, I even take my hook knife off of my rig, having sent it through via luggage just to keep 'em calm. One time, they said they detected explosives on my gear bag. Second test proved it wrong.

It's way too tense at the TSA gates to not think about what you are bringing across the gate. Even if it's benign, it can cause you a lot of grief. Why chance it - especially when carrying drugs in condoms is not uncommon? Whether one thinks drugs could "hurt" anyone is really not the point. Don't screw with the gate cops. Relatively speaking, they don't have a lot of knowledge about drugs, so they're going to hang you up there just in case and just to make a point - right or wrong as that might be.

Knives of all kinds (even hooknives) were explicitly prohibited until 12/22/05 when, due to a miracle, they suddenly ceased to be a threat. Condoms and flour or any combination thereof have never been prohibited.

She carried legal items through security. When challenged she told them exactly what they were. They didn't believe her. They were wrong.

Being stupid is NOT a crime, or our President would be in jail (again).

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[kallend 2,151]

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Scoop, honey, what kind of drug looks like flour?

WHat kind of a cock end transports flour in condoms?

I pack socks and underpants in my skydiving helmet when I pack my case to travel by air. Should I be arrested? I'm sure that TSA could confuse my socks with chemical/biological weapons after I've worn them a few days.

Being stupid is NOT grounds for jailing someone for 3 weeks.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[AlexCrowley 0]

You're a lot more forgiving than I am then.

TV's got them images, TV's got them all, nothing's shocking.

[ladyskydiver 0]

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I'm sure that TSA could confuse my socks with chemical/biological weapons after I've worn them a few days.

Ok...I've just got to point out for those who do not believe Kallend has a sense of humor....read this above statement from him.

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[Scoop 0]

Removed post content cos its really repetition of what has already been posted

[RhondaLea 4]

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Should I be arrested?

That's an entirely different question, and not one for this thread.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[RhondaLea 4]

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Scoop, honey, what kind of drug looks like flour?

Seriously.

Much like cough syrup being a key ingredient of meth, flour is a key ingredient of cookies.

And those will destroy your life.

Alex, someone needs to take your car keys and your grocery discount card.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[Samurai136 0]

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Plus when your used to dealing with proper criminals, you kinda lose your sense of humor for things like this. You just deal with it as you would any other prisoner.

Very scary. That is a direct errosion of constitutional rights. Grumpy law enforcement oppressing innocent civilians. What protects citizens from bad law enforcement? Law suits.

"Buttons aren't toys." - Trillian
Ken

[Scoop 0]

Its perfectly legal to act upon the information you have in front of you at the time. In this case it appears they believed she was in posession of a controlled substance. You will be dealt with accordingly.

'Oh its just a joke' is not a recognised defence in any court of law