November 15, 2010

TRENTON — In a press conference scheduled for noon today in room 103 at the Statehouse, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey will stand alongside legislative leaders from both sides of the aisle to support a resolution asking the United States Congress to review new TSA screening procedures at airports that violate privacy, and provide little in the way of security enhancements.

"This technology involves a direct invasion of privacy," said ACLU-NJ executive director Deborah Jacobs, "It produces strikingly graphic images of passengers' bodies, essentially taking a naked picture of air passengers as they pass through security checkpoints."

The ACLU maintains that the likely effectiveness of such a technology in preventing attacks does not justify the level of intrusion involved.

News conference attendees include:

• Senator Michael J. Doherty (23rd District)
• Senator Diane Allen (7th District)
• Assemblywoman Alison McHose (24th District)
• Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle (37th District)
• Assemblyman John DiMaio (23rd District)
• Assemblyman Erik Peterson (23rd District)

At the press conference, the Legislators will announce the introduction of a resolution urging Congress to immediately review the new TSA screening procedures and the reports of passenger abuse occurring at our nation's airports. Senator James Beach (6th District) will join Senator Doherty in sponsoring the Senate version of the resolution.

Related Content

• ACLU Backgrounder on Body Scanners and "Virtual Strip Searches" (129k PDF)