Submission + - DOJ Lawyer argued that Guantanamo prisoner searches are just like TSA Screenings (politico.com) 1
McGruber writes: Last Monday, Justice Department Attorney Edward Himmelfarb argued in court that searches of Guantanamo prisoners heading to meet with their attorneys were just like the searches that Transportation Security Administration performs on travelers at U.S. airports: "As a couple of spokesmen for Guantanamo said in the articles that are in the record, it's basically like a TSA search at the airport...a supplemental search," Himmelfarb told the court, according to a recording of the argument (http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/recordings/recordings2014.nsf/1D6FABA4014A1F9385257C3C00759E3A/$file/13-5218.mp3). "That's basically what it is and people fly all the time, including devout Muslims. It's not as bad as it sounds. The genital area is touched through the clothing with a flat hand, the way the TSA does," he added.
David Remes, an attorney representing Guantanamo prisoners, immediately sent the court a letter after the argument, disputing Himmelfarb's assertion that the search procedure is "not as bad as it sounds." "Clients who are willing to see me, or to have calls with me, describe a search procedure that is far more invasive and degrading than the light pat-down passengers get at airports: The guard feels the detainee’s penis, cups the detainee’s testicles, and feels inside the detainee’s crotch," Remes wrote in his letter (http://images.politico.com/global/2013/12/13/hatimremesltr.html).
DOJ Lawyer Himmelfarb then sent a letter to the court Friday afternoon (http://images.politico.com/global/2013/12/13/hatimltr.html), in which he said he wished to revise his remarks. "I would like to clarify that while the search procedures employed at Guantanamo bear some general similarities to patdown procedures employed at airport security checkpoints, the two sets of procedures are not identical. Although the Transportation Security Administration's patdown procedures cannot be publicly disclosed in detail...they differ in certain key respects from the searches conducted at Guantanamo," Himmelfarb wrote. "I regret any confusion my statements may have caused."
David Remes, an attorney representing Guantanamo prisoners, immediately sent the court a letter after the argument, disputing Himmelfarb's assertion that the search procedure is "not as bad as it sounds." "Clients who are willing to see me, or to have calls with me, describe a search procedure that is far more invasive and degrading than the light pat-down passengers get at airports: The guard feels the detainee’s penis, cups the detainee’s testicles, and feels inside the detainee’s crotch," Remes wrote in his letter (http://images.politico.com/global/2013/12/13/hatimremesltr.html).
DOJ Lawyer Himmelfarb then sent a letter to the court Friday afternoon (http://images.politico.com/global/2013/12/13/hatimltr.html), in which he said he wished to revise his remarks. "I would like to clarify that while the search procedures employed at Guantanamo bear some general similarities to patdown procedures employed at airport security checkpoints, the two sets of procedures are not identical. Although the Transportation Security Administration's patdown procedures cannot be publicly disclosed in detail...they differ in certain key respects from the searches conducted at Guantanamo," Himmelfarb wrote. "I regret any confusion my statements may have caused."
