State of the Shelanman

As Mr. Gilmore points out, we Americans once mocked Soviet Russia for requiring its citizens to "show their papers" to travel within their own country. And yet, now, when you go to the airport, you will be asked for photo ID. If you refuse to show photo ID you may still be allowed to board a plane -- provided that you submit to a thorough hand search of your person and your belongings.

You can read what John Gilmore has to say about himself here and here.

I personally believe that Mr. Gilmore is... well, I won't be politically correct -- I think he's nuts...

... But I think he is on to something here. First off, the Russian example is both appalling and accurate -- you do have to prove that you are allowed to travel -- and, in fact, there is a secret list of people who are not allowed to travel (at least not by air). The government can add anybody to this list that they choose -- there are no meaningful restrictions on it -- or if there are, they are government secrets (which, of course, means that they may as well not exist). (source: EPIC.org).

Recently several famous individuals have found themselves on the no-fly list, Sen. Kennedy included. Mr. Kennedy was able to place phone calls to the heads of various agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security (the topic of a future rant, when I have more sources). Thus, the Senator was eventually allowed to board his flight. But what about us lowly citizens? Are you on a first-name basis with Tom Ridge? Would he tell the police and security personnel to leave you alone and let you get on with your business? Probably not. (Mr. Ridge, feel free to correct me on that one if I'm wrong).

In addition to being required to show ID (and the... difficulties... that causes), there are ohter anti-terrorism policies in place. Apparently it is now some sort of crime to be rude to flight attendants, or to be pissed off at the flight attendant, the crew, or the airline in general.

Specifically, I am referring to a fascinating little report about one Hazel O'Leary was arrested while on board a United Airlines flight that had been delayed due to bad weather.

Ms. O'Leary claims that she -- very politely -- asked to be allowed off a plane that was just sitting on the ground for about two hours. She had apparently telephoned the airlines customer service desk and had already scheduled a new flight for herself in the morning (her flight had apparently been diverted to some random location, and she did not relish spending the next 20 hours waiting and then flying back-and-forth.

The flight attendants refused, so Ms. O'Leary stopped the pilot (the pilot was returning from a bathroom break, and walked by her seat). The pilot refused to allow her to leave. Ms. O'Leary then got up and followed the pilot back towards the cockpit (cockpit door was apparently open). She was told that she must return to her seat, or police would be summoned to remove her from the plane. She said "fine" as she wished to be allowed to leave. She was arrested and questioned for approximately three hours by the Airport Police, TSA, and FBI officials before finally being allowed to leave. (source: Original Incident Reports, The Tennessean).

Now, I doubt that Ms. O'Leary was half as calm, collected and patient as she claims to be in her report, but that doesn't matter. You have every right to get just a little pissed off if an airline decides to ruin your entire day, and then decides to have a go at your night too. Personally, I would be livid. I usually don't shout, but I can guarantee that I would have steam billowing from my ears. I might have even acted as Ms. O'Leary did.

Now think for a minute... is it right to have the FBI arrest and interrogate someone for making a small scene on an airplane after being cooped up all day long and then told that she could not get off the plane (apparently one passenger was let off, as the plane had been diverted to his Ultimate Destination -- according, at least, to Ms. O'Leary -- the pilot's report did not mention that passenger).

I am not sure whether I think it was appropriate for Ms. O'Leary to be removed from the plane, or whether or not she should have been allowed to get off the plane. However, as there was no reason to believe that she had committed (or attempted to commit) a crime, nor that she was likely to do so, I find it inappropriate for her to have been arrested. It is, after all, illegal to detain someone without either probable cause or a warrant, and I assert that, given the witness accounts, Ms. O'Leary's situation fit neither requirement.

If I was in charge of the Airport Police, I probably would have removed Ms. O'Leary from the plane, asked whether we could talk about what had happened (mention that 'no' was an aceptable answer) and given her the opportunity to file her "witness/victim" report. I then would have asked her to calm down, and arrange for new flights in the morning -- especially since she seemed to want to do this anyway. If, during our conversation, something questionable arose, then I might have taken action. But a three-hour conversation with so many different law-enforcement types is nothing but an interrogation, which, as I said, is uncalled for and, in fact, illegal in this situation.

On another note... go take a look at the incident reports here (in case you missed the link above). Notice that the pilot's name is visible on the documents, and Ms. O'Leary's name is on the documents. But, all those lovely law enforcement types who so kindly detained and question Ms. O'Leary have conveniently had their names crossed out -- meanwhile we get a physical description of the passenger (who, may I point out, was a paying customer of the airline's).

I'm still saving up for a rant about hiding and disclosing of people's identity by the government, but you can expect one of those soon too... I expect this case and the Kobe Bryant case to figure in heavily in that rant... Until then I'll leave you guessing as to what I think about such disclosure.