TSA Changes procedure after Ron Paul Incident

WASHINGTON — Transportation Security Administration screeners at Lambert-St.
Louis International Airport probably wish that the fellow they chose to grill
last March about a box of cash wasn't a Ron Paul devotee who runs a committee
devoted to individual rights and constitutional government.

But grill Steven Bierfeldt they did, and eight months later the incident has
yielded revised rules requiring TSA agents to stick to matters related to
flight security rather than policing airports for other crimes.

Bierfeldt and the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented him in a
lawsuit, announced in a news release this week that the TSA had changed its
rules in response to the litigation.

"It's a huge victory for civil liberties that TSA agents no longer have free
rein to conduct sweeping, baseless searches and detain passengers who don't
pose a threat to flight safety," Bierfeldt said in a statement.

The TSA was closed Wednesday for Veterans Day, and the agency did not
immediately respond to a call seeking comment.

A TSA spokeswoman, Lauren Gaches, acknowledged to the Washington Times on
Tuesday that the policy with regard to cash had changed but declined to release
copies of directives. The newspaper quoted her as saying that the TSA
"routinely assesses its policies and screening procedures to ensure the highest
levels of security nationwide."

Last spring, a TSA blog post defended the questioning but concluded that
"language used by the TSA employee was inappropriate."

A later blog post referring to "the St. Louis incident" says that "the tone and
language used by the TSA employee was inappropriate, and proper disciplinary
action was taken."

Bierfeldt said he was ushered to a small room and questioned after passing a
metal box containing $4,700 through a Lambert screening checkpoint. He said the
cash related to his job as director of development for the Campaign for
Liberty, a lobbying group that sprouted from the presidential campaign last
year of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian Republican from Texas.

Bierfeldt said he was interrogated for a half-hour in an increasingly
threatening manner and told he was being placed under arrest. He recorded audio
of the episode on his iPhone.

Bierfeldt's suit contended that the TSA's pre-flight screening should be aimed
at keeping weapons and explosives off airplanes.

Before it was due to be heard in September, the ACLU said the TSA issued a
policy directive stating that "screening may not be conducted to detect
evidence of crimes unrelated to transportation security."

The government agency responded in October with a second directive pointing out
that transporting large amounts of cash is not illegal, the release said. The
ACLU added that it is taking steps to drop the suit on Bierfeldt's behalf.