What happens if I refuse to submit to an airport screening? I mean, I get that I won’t be allowed past the Security checkpoint (duh), but is that the end of it? If someone approaches Security, has second thoughts, turns around and heads out of the airport, should they expect to be stopped and/or questioned by law enforcement?
As an aside, in one of the very VERY early seasons of COPS (as in, the first 2-3 seasons), there was an episode in which a Ft. Lauderdale police officer was at the airport checking passengers as they were coming into the airport. It may have been clever editing and/or my hazy memory, but it looked as if she was randomly picking people she thought looked suspicious and demanding to inspect their luggage. One guy was having none of it, and made as if to leave the airport, wherein she promptly tackled him, cuffed him, and found some amount of coke (or weed or something) in one of his boots. I would hope any competent lawyer could have gotten him off on 4th Amendment grounds.
If you refuse to undergo any screening (metal detectors and so on), you will be escorted from the premises and told to leave the airport. The TSA has said in the past that if someone is told to leave and they then attempt to re-join the screening line, they could be subject to penalties including arrest.
If, on the other hand, an initial screening begins and you suddenly change your mind and want them to stop, the situation could be different. For example, if you go through the metal detector or the body scan machine, and the TSA then seeks to pat you down and you refuse, in theory you could face civil penalties and additional questioning. However, after the “Don’t touch my junk” incident of some time ago, the TSA seems to have announced that passengers will be escorted off the airport premises and not be subject to those penalties.
I believe in some states where they run DUI checkpoints it’s an offense if a motorist sees the checkpoint and attempt to avoid it by making a U turn. She may have felt that avoiding her inspection fell into the same category and gave her probable cause for detainment and a search.
Different rules probably apply to the situation of a local police officer checking bags upon entry to the airport vs. the TSA at the security checkpoint inside.
It’s worth remembering that TSA screeners are not law enforcement officers. There’s even some people in Congress who would like it to be clearer to the public.
This is an unjustified gross generalization, which BTW doesn’t add any information to answering the OP’s question. You can thank a very small group of radical terrorists who in many cases are Arabs (e.g., Richard Reid was not an Arab, and you have him to thank for having to take your shoes off).
Those who have nothing to hide still know their rights under the Constitution.
Theophane, “Arabs” as a group have nothing to do with increased security procedures. This post is inappropriate for GQ. No warning issued, but don’t do this again.