I suspect we'll have just have to lock ourselves inside to avoid causing suspicion in the authorities. On the other hand, the Unabomber was a bit of a recluse himself.

H. L. Mencken more or less predicted the doom of democracy by realizing that the common man doesn't wish to be free; he wishes to be safe. The hell with rights, just protect us

Benjamin Franklin said that those who would give up essential freedom to afford a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety.

I guess we're no longer deserving of either.

The plaintiffs say that they were profiled because of their religious or ethnic background.

What happens when we dismantle TSA overreach, and focus the scrutiny on people whose religious and ethnic backgrounds fit the terrorist? Will there be more of these lawsuits? Or am I reading the article wrong?

Jason, that's a good question... it may be this, though: If the government drags you into court these days, and say, "The government did this, and in this paragraph of the Constitution it very cleary says the government cannot do that", that cuts no ice with the court. There is no court anywhere in the U.S. anymore that respects the rights of the individual. You have to claim identity-group persecution to have a chance.

Since schools do not reinforce what the Bill of Rights meant to the founding of our nation I think the struggle to bring back individual rights is going to be hard.

Individual rights, individual responsibilities, and our actual local legal rights are not taught by anyone anywhere.

Typically, the powerful/wealthy do not want this taught because it upsets the local political/business/social good 'ole boy network.

The NAACP does not want this taught because it would mean loss of income from business and wealthy individuals.

The way of the world.

If we buy too many groceries or too much gasoline, we can also be profiled. Who buys that much stuff? People who shop at Costco and Walmart, and guess how the information goes to the feds? Through those 'club card' discounts!

There IS one remaining resource for common citizens-- our local Grand Juries. Anyone can apply to join, and anyone can file a complaint.
I just relayed my complaint about an abusive traffic court commissioner to his county Grand Jury... if more people would do that, maybe it would begin to make an impression. Traffic courts have become a machine for the sole purpose of milking The People for cash. The reason nobody can reclaim stolen money from the courts is that it's already spent by the time the appeal gets heard.

There is no court anywhere in the U.S. anymore that respects the rights of the individual. You have to claim identity-group persecution to have a chance.

Yeah, that might be right.

Well, the photographer isn't accusing law enforcement of profiling, so hopefully he wins just on fact that his individual rights were violated. He is a pro photographer and it sounds like officers were idiots for arresting him. Sounds like the other plaintiffs weren't doing anything wrong either.

I wonder if the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is based on individual rights? The case in the '90s involved an Indian's right to ingest a cactus for reasons of personal enlightenment.

And the Citizen's United favored free speech for individuals associated in a business?

one remaining resource for common citizens-- our local Grand Juries.

A city in the area just gave their Grand Jury report and found that the city had been giving raises to employees despite budget shortfalls. Funds were secretly moved between accounts. It would be interesting to watch how Grand Juries work.