Newspaper: Texas lawmakers needed to 'grow a backbone' on TSA pat-down ban

A conservative Washington, D.C., newspaper said this week that Texas lawmakers should have stood up to federal officials who threatened to cancel flights to Texas if the state passed a bill to outlaw controversial airport pat-downs.
 
The Washington Times said in an editorial that the Texas legislature "needs to grow a backbone" after state lawmakers there responded to a letter from a U.S. District Attorney saying that flights would be grounded if the bill became law by shelving it.

"A state that prides itself on its independence and the slogan 'Don’t mess with Texas' ought not to be easily cowed as the upper chamber was Wednesday," the paper said in its editorial.

"When the time came for a vote to hold the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) accountable for its despicable airport-screening practices, it only took a scary letter from a Department of Justice bureaucrat to convince enough senators to hoist the white flag," the editorial continued.

Under the proposal Texas lawmakers backed away from, TSA agents would have been charged with a misdemeanor crime for patting down travelers who did not have probable cause for suspicion. The penalty would carry a $4,000 fine and one year in jail.

If the measure had been approved and Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) signed it, it would have been the first state law restricting TSA's security techniques.

TSA argued the proposed legislation was unconstitutional, and in a letter from U.S. District Attorney for Western Texas John Murphy to senators, the Department of Justice said the law could have unintended consequences.

"If HR 1937 were enacted, the federal government would likely seek an emergency stay of the statute," Murphy wrote in a letter dated May 24. "Unless or until such a stay were granted, TSA would likely be required to cancel any flight or a series of flights for which it could not ensure the safety of the passengers and crew."