FW: [IP] more on TSA Violated Law, GAO Finds - illustrates a WIDEspread problem!

-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
Date: Saturday, Jul 23, 2005 4:06 pm
Subject: [IP] more on TSA Violated Law, GAO Finds - illustrates a WIDEspread problem!

Begin forwarded message:

From: Jim Warren <jwarren@well.com>
Date: July 23, 2005 3:00:44 PM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: Re: [IP] TSA Violated Law, GAO Finds - illustrates a WIDEspread problem!

At 5:59 PM -0400 7/22/05, David Farber wrote:

> Begin forwarded message:

> From: prsingel <prsingel@pacbell.net>
...
TSA employeess did indeed violate a federal privacy law when they
secretly expanded the nature and extent of testing of a new passenger
screening system, according to congressional investigators.
...

This, in fact, illustrates a WIDEspread problem, in all levels of government. It works like this:

1. An enforcement agency pleads that they need more powers/latitude/ authority etc., in order to protect innocent citizens / do their job / etc.

2. The legislative body grants them their wishes, but with limits and prohibitions on how those new (or current!) powers can be exploited by the agency.

3. The enforcement agency -- as an administrative decision, or by [some of] its officials acting as "rogue agents" -- exceeds those powers and their authority ... sometimes grossly exceeding it.

4. The legislative body is [sometimes] "outraged", at least when it's sufficiently embarrassing, and it's elected members posture and whine and cry "helpless" crocodile tears about such administrative "excesses".

BUT ...

It is the legislative body that is at FAULT! Why?

Almost invariably, when they grant new powers and impose new limitations, legislators FAIL to, at the same time, specify any PENALTIES -- especially CRIMINAL penalties -- for any agents, officials, administrators, etc., who violate their legislated prohibitions.

I.e., the legislators specify limitations and prohibitions, but commonly do NOT specify any penalties if their limitations and prohibitions are ignored or violated!

Can you imagine the same legislators enacting prohibitions or mandates on PRIVATE citizens -- who are NOT part of their too-cozy government -- without ALSO taking great care to, at the same time, enact penalties ... civil and/or criminal ... for CITIZENS who violate those prohibitions and mandates?!

Solution: EVERY time a legislative body -- local, state or federal -- proposes to enact some limitation or mandate, EVEN if it's on <gasp> other government officials and agencies, they should (must!) ALSO, at the same time, as part of the same legislation, ALWAYS enact/ include PENALTIES to be imposed if [when] government agents violate the enacted limits/prohibitions.

And since violations are by officials acting under "color of authority" -- acting on behalf of that very legislative body -- who violate their prohibitions, the penalties should be MANDATORY. (Let's not give the administrative branch the freedom to decide whether it will prosecute itself!)

Doing anything less simply INVITES and ENCOURAGES "over-zealous" agents and "well-meaning" officials to IGNORE the law's toothless limits, and do whatever they damn-well please. (I.e., the much- vaunted "rule of law" only applies to citizens; not government officials!)

--jim

-------------------------------------http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/