NB:  This report is a little late, but we still wanted to share it with you!

The week after spring break, the YAL chapter at Georgia College and State University decided to stop and frisk random strangers on campus. Unlike the TSA, we asked for consent first. Most people said "no" because they don't like getting felt up by strangers. Who knew? We asked people to remove their shoelaces because they were a "safety hazard" (because you can strangle someone with them). They claimed that was absurd reasoning. Of course, imitating TSA officers, we simply claimed that it was in their best interest.

Our activism video: 

On February 29th the Young Americans for Liberty at UCF held our first activism event of the semester, Government Gone Wild. In less than a week, we built a 7' x 3' faux body scanner and made 300 4th Amendment luggage tags.

We set up our activism event in front of the Student Union and placed the scanner in a high traffic area to generate discussion. We also used freezer pops to get attention from students on a hot Florida day. Once students were  at our tent, we informed them about their constitutional rights while traveling and steps they can take to preserve those rights. Then we invited the students to a screening of "10 Rules with Dealing with the Police."

The Young Americans for Liberty at the University of Colorado at Boulder protested the TSA during the last week of school before spring break!  We constructed a mock body scanner, had a member dressed up as an agent, and displayed a large poster of the 4th Amendment. In addition to getting a lot of sign-ups for their email list, YAL @ CU distributed flyers giving information about both the TSA and their student group. When YAL member Alexis Olson had to go through the TSA herself the next day, she carried the the oversized 4th Amendment with her to the sound of a cheering crowd!

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was detained for four hours at a Nashville airport on Monday, January 23rd, after declining a TSA request for a pat down. Believing that his first attempt at the scanner had triggered a false alarm, he asked if he could walk through the scanner once more. He was then denied a second attempt and briskly escorted by local police into a detention cubicle where he remained for four hours, missing his flight as well as his commitment that day to speak in front of a crowd of 200,000 at the March for Life rally in D.C.

 
After his release, he was allowed to board another flight after he went through the scanner again without setting off the alarm a second time.

Though the TSA argues that it acted properly and objects to the use of the word "detainment" to describe Paul's treatment, according to Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution it is illegal to hold in custody Congressmen who are traveling to and from Congress: 

They [the Senators and Representatives] shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same.

This is not to say that members of Congress are above the law and are not subject to the same security measures as non-office holding citizens while traveling under regular conditions.