Crackdown on carry-ons has a catch

[question everything]

Monday, August 8, 2005

Crackdown on carry-ons has a catch

Passengers whose items are confiscated in airport security lines often surprised to find they're prosecuted.

By RACHANEE SRISAVASDI
The Orange County Register

Krishna Harrison waited in line at the passenger screening checkpoint at John Wayne Airport. Inside her backpack was an ivory letter opener given to her when her grandmother died.

Security officers confiscated the letter opener. What Harrison considered a family heirloom, the cops saw as a switchblade. Harrison, who said she didn't even realize the item was in her backpack, figured she'd never see it again. But she didn't count on being charged with a crime. Now the adult-literacy teacher faces up to a year in jail if convicted of the misdemeanor count of possessing the blade.

(snip)

Last year, 44 illegal weapons were seized from passengers at John Wayne screening points. The weapons included nine box cutters, nine switchblades and three loaded handguns. Authorities say people caught with weapons at the airport fall back on two explanations: "I didn't know I was carrying that," or "I forgot."

(snip)

Molko said most passengers end up pleading guilty, serve probation, then have the misdemeanor convictions expunged from their record. At Los Angeles International Airport, cases are going to court, too. Last year, the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office filed 202 misdemeanor cases involving illegal weapons seized at screening checkpoints... In Orange County, Harrison, 34, of Sacramento plans to go to trial over the March 7 incident. Her trial is scheduled for Oct. 4. "I'm not a criminal," she said. Her defense attorney, Denise Crawford, put it this way: "Fine the heck out of them, but why strap them with a criminal record?"

(snip)

Take the case of R.J. Morris. The commercial pilot stood trial in February 2004 for carrying a licensed gun in his backpack, as he got ready to board a flight as a passenger, said his attorney, John Barnett. Morris, who had a permit for his gun, said he simply forgot it was in his carry-on luggage. After a one-day trial, the jury decided he was not guilty.

(snip)

http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/08/08/sections/news/news/article_626884.php

[bryant69]

1. Good way to pick up some extra scratch

I mean for those cities so inclined.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[fudge stripe cookays]

2. I wonder what will happen to me the first time...

I travel to Canada with my Betaseron packages (that have syringes in them).

I'll have a doctor's note to travel, but I don't want to put them in my baggage in the unpressurized, freezing cold baggage compartment.

This should be interesting.
FSC

[SammyWinstonJack]

3. My granddaughter had a pair of scissors confiscated

at the security checkpoint in San Antonio a couple of weeks ago. They were in her backpack, as they were when she boarded her flight in Vegas five weeks before. I didn't even think to check before leaving for the airport. They did give us the option of returning to the checked baggage area and putting the scissors in her luggage or taking them to the car. We didn't have time to do either, so they were confiscated.

[NV Whino]

4. I've always wondered

why they don't offer mailing envelopes or packages to people such as yourself so you can mail the item to your destination.

Too much trouble to be nice and they don't really care, I guess.

[question everything]

5. Some airports do. Not have a list of them, though nt