
TSA Withdraws Subpoenas Against Bloggers - phsr
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/12/tsa-withdraws-subpoenas/
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patio11
And if they had done the smart thing and lawyered up instantly, then let the
rest of the story play out, there would have still been a media storm, saner
heads would have stilled prevailed in 24 hours, and they still would be
getting off consequence free. Except they'd have working computers and no data
in the hands of possibly vindictive TSA agents.

I love cops. Don't ever talk to them.

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tentonova
This is an excellent (Regent Law School) lecture that elucidates exactly why
you should _NEVER_ speak to the police:
[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4097602514885833865...](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4097602514885833865#)

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yesimahuman
Awesome video. But what should you say _exactly_ when asked for a statement?
Do you say "I will not talk to you", or do you say "I won't talk to you
without my lawyer" or "I won't talk to you without immunity?"

And, when do you use this? If you are at the scene of a crime and they ask you
to come over and talk to them, do you just say no?

I've never had to do this so I'd like to do it right if it comes up.

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patio11
The magic words are "Am I free to leave?" -- in which case, you have no
particular obligation to tell them anything else (your locality may have a
rule where you have to tell them your name on demand).

If you are not free to leave, you are under arrest (whether they tell you so
or not). That triggers a bunch of Constitutional protections (whether they
tell you so or not). If you are arrested, you only say one thing: "I wish to
speak with my attorney, please."

(I have no objection with speaking to the cops to say "He went that way,
officer!" or "Why yes, I did see the accident." I'm assuming you take the
advice in cases where they express adversarial interest in you personally, or
cases in which you are obviously in danger. For example, if I had woken up
this morning and there was a dead body next to me, I would have summoned the
police and lawyered up as soon as they got in the door.)

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patrickgzill
After they imaged the blogger's hard drive in its entirety and also downloaded
the contents of both his phones?

And then intimidated the other by claiming they would get him fired from KLM?

Each of these guys should go after the goons, attaching their personal assets
if he wins, using a "Bivens" claim.

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philk
I'm not sure that merely apologizing is good enough. The TSA needs to explain
how they're going to ensure that these sort of heavy handed tactics won't be
used again and what disciplinary actions the agents involved will be facing.

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CapitalistCartr
We don't make the rules, but we should play by them. In the USA, there is no
good outcome to believing, or cooperating with, any police authority at the
federal level. Its not a matter of political views, its just the way the
system works. Even at the local level, when in doubt, or if their the
slightest bit threatening or intimidating, shut up and lawyer up.

