Man Who Stripped And Showed 4th Amendment On Chest Wins Trial For Being Detained

Posted by | January 27, 2013 20:24 | Filed under: Top Stories


Aaron Tobey says he was handcuffed and detained for 90 minutes by the TSA at the Richmond International Airport when he began removing his clothing and displaying the Fourth Amendment on his chest. He was protesting airport security measures.

In sending the case to trial, unless there’s a settlement, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 and reversed a lower court judge and invoked Benjamin Franklin in the process…

Tobey didn’t want to go through the advanced imaging technology X-ray machines, or so-called nude body scanners, that were cropping up at airports nationwide. Instead, when it was his turn to be screened, he was going to opt for an intrusive pat-down, and removed most of his clothing in the process.

Judge Roger Gregory wrote:

Here, Mr. Tobey engaged in a silent, peaceful protest using the text of our Constitution—he was well within the ambit of First Amendment protections. And while it is tempting to hold that First Amendment rights should acquiesce to national security in this instance, our Forefather Benjamin Franklin warned against such a temptation by opining that those ‘who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.’ We take heed of his warning and are therefore unwilling to relinquish our First Amendment protections—even in an airport.

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Copyright 2013 Liberaland
By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.