(Reuters) - A controversial proposal to criminalize "enhanced pat-downs" at Texas airports stalled in the state senate late on Tuesday night, following a lobbying effort against it by the federal government.
State Senator Dan Patrick, a Houston Republican, had said he had enough support to win approval of the measure, which would have called for Transportation Security Administration agents to be charged with misdemeanor sexual harassment for what the bill calls 'intrusive touching,' a crime that carries a penalty of up to a year in jail.
The bill described 'intrusive touching' as touching a passenger's sexual organs, or 'touching in a manner that would be offensive to a reasonable person.'
But after John Murphy, United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas, circulated a letter threatening to cancel flights out of Texas if the law passed, Patrick saw support for the measure rapidly vanish.
When Patrick found he no longer had the two thirds majority of the senate required under the rules to debate a bill on the floor, he pulled it from consideration. With the legislature set to adjourn on Monday, the proposal looks dead for the current session.
Murphy had written that: "The proposed legislation would criminalize searches that are required under federal regulations in order to ensure the safety of the American public."
Texas vs. TSA
that, that's gay."
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Originally Posted by Faaip de Oiad
