It's not just a patdown. They take you to a phone booth that has a direct line to some portion of the FBI IIRC, and they ask you a bunch of questions to confirm your identity. At least this is what happened to me about ten years ago when I lost my wallet in a different state and needed to fly home.

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4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

[deleted]

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mothballed 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

... and the law in most states requires only that you give your name and possibly your DOB to the authorities upon detainment. So as a purely academic exercise, what can they even do if you refuse to answer beyond that? Obviously in practice they will fuck with you or just straight up violate the constitution, but theoretically I'm unsure how they can continue to seize you after that.

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crazygringo 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

...they don't let you fly.

They can't detain you (if you're not otherwise some kind of suspect, and you're not trying to assault them or sprint past security or anything), but they don't let you fly.

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mothballed 5 hours ago | parent [-]

... if you aren't detained you are free to go. And if you are free to go, you are free to stay, unless the property owner has trespassed you. TSA doesn't own the airport, at least in my state. So how can they trespass you from the airport or otherwise continue to detain you from moving forward?

I mean, I know you're right, and I know you will always lose if you try, but I don't understand the legal basis.

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harimau777 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I don't think it's a matter of whether or not you are free to go. It's a matter of whether they let you on the plane.

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crazygringo 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It's just federal law.

Cities don't own restaurants either but can fine them and close them if health inspections fail, because there's a law for that.

The legal basis is the federal laws written specifically around airport security.

	▲	ziml77 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I think the question here is, which laws?

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duskdozer 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

at least, hold or delay you long enough to make you miss your flight.