The Phil Mocek Incident

[pmocek]

I'd rather be on a plane full of folks that carry ID with them than one where anyone can get on just holding a ticket (If nothing else, I'm not stuck on a plane full of people who don't feel any accountability to their fellow passengers).

What about the documents people carry makes you more comfortable about them? What about the same people, without documentation of identity, would make you uncomfortable? How does having identified themselves to government agents make those people any more accountable to other passengers? It's not like they're on a bus that they can jump off of and run away. If they do something wrong, they're not going to run away from everyone.

You're not getting on a bus- there's a higher standard we should be holding air travel to due to its inherent vulnerability that other forms of transportation don't have- namely, one's inability to escape from the environment should a problem occur, in combination with how problems at 35k can lead to death much more easily and quickly.

That might explain why we search people for weapons before they board airplanes, but not before they board buses. I don't understand how their identities are related to their potential to cause harm.

I'm not saying it's foolproof, we all know it isn't, but it's better than just saying the hell with ID's altogether.

How so?

carrying ID is an accepted practice pretty much everywhere you go

Yes, it seems everybody is doing it. So what?

I fail to see how carrying ID forfeits any liberties that my father bombed the Nazis to protect.

Carrying documentation of your identity may not forfeit your liberties. Having your movement restricted because someone, somewhere, added your name to a blacklist, without any due process or means of appeal, is most certainly an infringement upon the liberties your father fought to protect.

If you [present] a fake ID [to airport security guards], for whatever reason, that means you can be considered a criminal, and that makes me not want to be on a plane with you.

When I'm on a plane, I don't care if the other people on the plane identified themselves accurately, inaccurately, or at all, to security guards. That someone violated a law in the process of traveling anonymously is not of the least concern to me.

If you did that, what's to stop you from engaging in other criminal activities that might affect me?

You could say the same of any action. If someone brushed his teeth that morning, what's to stop him from engaging in criminal activities that might affect you?

I'm just taking this to its logical conclusion.

To be clear: Your "logical conclusion" sounds to be that if someone is willing to use a fake ID, he's likely to be the sort of person who would murder a planeload of people.

Plus, the last several times I have flown, my ID was studied by the gate agent as well as the TSA staffer at the head of the line(that's how it's done in Philly anyway), and they checked to make sure the name on the ticket matches the name on the ID.

Sure, they did. Otherwise, you could re-sell the airline ticket you purchased just like you can resell *any other* ticket (movie, sporting event, bus) you purchased, and just like you could re-sell an airplane ticket not so long ago.

[Verifying identity and searching people for dangerous items] certainly complement each other.

How so?

A ticket in your hand only says you're in possession of a ticket, and nothing else.

It also indicates that someone has purchased a flight. A dollar in your hand says you'r ein possession of dollar, and nothing else. If you have a dollar, you should be entitled to spend it, and if you are in possession of an airline ticket, you should be entitled to a plane ride.

Every time I have to interact with a cop, whether its spotting, or speeding, I expect to have to show ID.

You may expect to be required to do so every time, but you are not required to do so every time. Every time I interact with a cop, I expect him or her to lie to other people about our interaction unless I am sufficiently meek and subservient. That doesn't mean that such will be the case, or that it is just for such to be the case.

its obvious people can sneak guns on planes.

I agree. Please note that requiring people to identify themselves and wait for permission from the government before they travel does not prevent them from sneaking guns onto airplanes.

I'm sure people whose job it is to look at ID's and passports all day long get pretty decent at being able to spot a fake or altered ID.

Those are the same people who are searching for guns using metal detectors, virtual strip searches, and police-style body searches.

If we're going to operate off the assumption that ID's could be faked easily enough, then what is the point of having any ID at all?

Good question.

[pmocek]

I'm still trying to figure out what my "daily missle" is.

I suspect the OP meant to refer to your automobile. 30,000 people die in traffic accidents on U.S. roads every year. You and your car and me and my car are among the biggest threats to transportation safety.

I wonder what has this incident done?

It showed people that if you stand up to the lies of airport security guards and airport police, you won't be convicted of things you didn't do. It clarified that TSA "officers" are not law enforcement officers, that we have the right to fly without presenting documentation of our identities, that we have the right to film in public areas of airports, and that it's wise to do so. I hope it will make other people more likely to question the unlawful demands of TSA staff (e.g., identity checkpoints, virtual strip searches, gropings) and that it will make local police think twice before putting someone through the wringer because some airport rent-a-cop gets annoyed and tells them to.

Do you think policies have changed to better inform TSA officials?

Those policies are kept secret (except for the tents of thousands of low-level airport security staff who get to read them), so I can only guess. I don't think the higher-ups at TSA care if their airport staff are well-informed.

What has been worth the $34,000?

I was facing a year in jail. Maintaining my freedom was worth a lot more than $34,000.

[mirrodie]

Some advice perhaps to be considered:

You're sending an awful lot of time responding to our pithy comments. Perhaps a 2nd job or some serious overtime can erase that legal bill.

[gonzalu]

Some advice perhaps to be considered:

You're sending an awful lot of time responding to our pithy comments. Perhaps a 2nd job or some serious overtime can erase that legal bill.

Mario, you hiring?

[Gerard]

Some advice perhaps to be considered:
You're sending an awful lot of time responding to our pithy comments.

Yeah and I'm seriously glazed over with this topic. It has developed into the circle game.

[gonzalu]

Gerard, next time I see you am gonna punch you in the bicep!

[megatop412]

I think it's great we've been able to have a hearty and (mostly) respectful debate about this, but I too am glazed over by now. It sure seems that everything that was needed said has been. All I know is that 2 weeks ago, nobody cared one iota about being asked for their ID, and that when I travel to my cousin's wedding in April, I plan to actually get there and not f**k things up by telling people I don't need to show my ID and then filming their response to that. I do plan on telling anyone who tries to stop me from photographing at PHL or BNA that that is perfectly legal behavior. I don't get intimidated easily.

Mr. Mocek, good luck to you in your future endeavors.

See you guys(still no gals here yet?) at Bay Harbour Mall or the mounds sometime soon.

-William Rizzo

[PhilDernerJr]

Phil, your discussion has been great, as said, thank you for you taking the time.

I do, however, have one question that I don't think was directly asked or answered.

Did you enter the airport without ID and with a camera knowing that you would likely have a confrontation with TSA? I just get the feeling you were looking for this incident to happen.

[Gerard]

This is too funny and timely.
On Fridays episode of "Fringe"the killer was a TSA employee and picked out his victims during screening.
He got the info from their.....IDs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!
And he used to be a Math professor at MIT who went a little wacky. Mmmm, good background check there.

[mirrodie]

Lol dude, I was thinking the same thing while watching fringe!!

No, not hiring just yet. But to be honest, if I had an applicant whose past behavior seems to indicate that he wants to challenge "the system", I don't know if that would be the best person for our team.

[NIKV69]

Phil, your discussion has been great, as said, thank you for you taking the time.

I do, however, have one question that I don't think was directly asked or answered.

Did you enter the airport without ID and with a camera knowing that you would likely have a confrontation with TSA? I just get the feeling you were looking for this incident to happen.

Of course he did, which is why he is not answering. He is an activist, as is his lawyer. He went in there planning for this to happen and planning to get video of TSA as well. I think he didn't plan on it as going as far as it did with the arrest though in the back of his mind he knew it was possible.

[pmocek]

Did you enter the airport without ID and with a camera knowing that you would likely have a confrontation with TSA?

If by "likely have a confrontation" you mean "likely need to interact with TSA staff who are misinformed and/or likely to lie about their own policies and might try to prevent me from traveling" then yes, I did enter without ID (didn't have any on me), with a camera (I almost always have one with me), and with the knowledge that I would likely have such a confrontation (you never know how far they'll go). I had been through airport security multiple times after presenting only a boarding pass, but had not done so since TSA announced that people who claimed their documentation of identity was misplaced or stolen would still be allowed to fly but that those who willfully refused to present it would not (making very clear that their policy is about conditioning people for compliance, not about ensuring safety).

[Gerard]

I'm curious. How did the Cannabis Defense Coalition get involved with your case?
http://cdc.coop/about

[pmocek]

How did the Cannabis Defense Coalition get involved with your case?
http://cdc.coop/about

Cannabis Defense Coalition is a 501(c)(3) non-profit member cooperative focused on drug law reform in Washington State. I'm a member and I serve on the board of directors. In 2009, I was in Albuquerque representing CDC at Drug Policy Alliance's biennial international drug policy reform conference.

For more on the connection, please see http://cdc.coop/tsa_arrest. For a concise view of what CDC does, please see our project page: http://cdc.coop/projects