Posted by Orin Kerr:
Sex, Drugs, and the Patriot Act:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2006_11_12-2006_11_18.shtml#1163620946
Well, no drugs, actually, but this one does combine sex and the
Patriot Act. [1]AFP is reporting, via Drudge:
A couple's ill-concealed sexual play aboard a Southwest Airlines
flight from Los Angeles got them charged with violating the Patriot
Act, intended for terrorist acts, and could land them in jail for
20 years.
According to their indictment, Carl Persing and Dawn Sewell were
allegedly snuggling and kissing inappropriately, "making other
passengers uncomfortable," when a flight attendant asked them to
stop. . . .
On a second warning from the flight attendant, Persing snapped back
threatening the flight attendant with "serious consequences" if he
did not leave them alone.
The comment was enough to have the couple, both in their early 40s,
arrested when the plane reached its destination in Raleigh, North
Carolina, and charged with obstructing a flight attendant and with
criminal association.
This story doesn't seem to add up. The relevant provision of the
Patriot Act is [2]18 U.S.C. 1993(a)(5), which punishes whoever:
interferes with, disables, or incapacitates any dispatcher, driver,
captain, or person while they are employed in dispatching,
operating, or maintaining a mass transportation vehicle or ferry,
with intent to endanger the safety of any passenger or employee of
the mass transportation provider, or with a reckless disregard for
the safety of human life.
In addition, 18 U.S.C. 1993(a)(8) prohibits "threaten[ing]" to do an
act in (a)(5).
However, nothing in the story suggests that the man actually
threatened to interfere with, disable, or incapacitate the flight
attendant while she was doing her job with intent to endanger her
safety. It sounds like he was actually quite occupied with other
things.
If any one has a copy of the indictment, send it on.
References
1. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/11/14/061114235323.5hvb8xln.html
2.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sec_18_00001993----000-.html
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