Saturday, November 24, 2012

Please, Help Stop This TSA Injustice—You Can Make a Call and Demand Simple Fairness.

Sheila Schultz was unable to smile for this  police Booking Photo

Chicago, IL—Friday morning seemed like it was just another beginning of a long flight for Sheila Schultz, 65.  You see Schultz is a 44 year-veteran flight attendant for American Airlines and on this day she was headed for Shanghai, China. 
At O'Hare International Airport Schultz placed her carryon bag on a TSA inspection conveyer belt as she always does since privacy invasion by government became a way of life in this nation.  Now any fool would know that the TSA wienies are going to x-ray her bag for anything resembling a weapon.  Smuggling a weapon in a carryon bag simply would not work.
When Schultz’s bag was being screened, as was fully expected, unfortunately a handgun was discovered.  Without much fanfare the TSA wienies who have no police training or arrest powers took control over the bag and called the police.
The “Zero Tolerance” policy kicked into high gear.  Schultz was quickly placed in handcuffs and transported for booking and an overnight stay in the lockup.  She was humiliated with sexually intrusive strip searches and then dragged before a judge the next day.
Did she commit a crime?  On it’s face it’s very obvious that in the worst case scenario Schultz, forgot that she left her gun in the bag.  Missing was a motive or agenda and most importantly intent to cause harm or break the law.   This case however was still different.  The bag Schultz used, was also shared by her husband who apparently left the small .22 gun inside after a trip to Michigan.
In case you were wondering the Schultz couple live in suburban Palatine, Illinois.  There are no gun possession bans there and transporting the gun to Michigan would not violate any laws.   You also need to know that Schultz has never before in her entire life been arrested.  She’s not a member of a street gang or terror group.  She’s been a contributing and taxpaying member of society throughout her life.  Also she’s lived in the same home for 40 years.
Anita Alvarez is the Cook County State’s Attorney.  Alvarez personally hates the right we all are supposed to enjoy to keep and bear arms.  Alvarez lives to prosecute anyone she can for violation of the un-Constitutional gun laws of Illinois.  She’s proven herself to be heartless, cruel and unreasonable in gun cases.
I smell a deal in the works to make the Schultz woman plead guilty for a period of supervision and after three years a reversal of the conviction.  They will also seek to impose a fine.  That deal may also prematurely end Schultz’s airline career.  They will also demand that her husband’s gun be confiscated and destroyed.  Schultz’s  lawyer David Studenroth, will see this as the only way out and advise Schultz to take that crappy plea agreement.
Schultz will have to commute back and forth for a few months to spend countless hours in a courtroom far from her home in Palatine.  The lawyer’s meter will be ticking away depleting Schultz’s retirement fund.
If ever there was on this is a case where justice demands they simply let the woman go, return her husband’s gun and wish this woman well this was it.  Will they do the right thing here? Not without a lot of public pressure.  Common sense never seems to prevail in Cook County’s criminal justice system. 
Perhaps it’s time to pass this around to every sane and sober person you know to call Anita Alvarez at 773-674-7494.   Simply demand that Alvarez do the right thing and dismiss the charges so this woman can resume her life in peace.  I will make a call Monday Morning when the office is open for business, please do the same. 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

TSA abuse: 17,000 and counting

http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/274022.html

Anonymous said...

If they prosecute this women this will be the most unjust thing I have ever heard of. It was a dumb thing for her to do, but just think how easy this could happen. If they prosecute her, I hope you see the biggest protest this country has ever seen.God bless her.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to guess it wasn't loaded and there was no ammo in the bag.If there was the media surely would have told us about the"Fully loaded weapon!"

Anonymous said...

While I agree that the TSA needs to be disbanded, in the mean time they should hire retired or off-duty cops to act as supervisors over these unskilled, ignorant TSA bottom feeders. The supervisor cops would more than likely use their discretion and this incident would never have happened.

Anonymous said...

Easy mistake to make. I live in Chicago but own a farm in southern Indiana. I got home on a Sunday night from the farm, unpacked my bag, wife packed her stuff in same bag, went on a business trip Monday. She drove, checked into a hotel, pulled something out of the bag and a loaded glock magazine fell out and landed on her toe. She was pretty pissed. Glad she didn't fly...

Anonymous said...

I would agree that this is an easy mistake to make. I frequently travel between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It's a 4.5 hour drive or a 45 minute flight. By the time you add check-in time and travel to/from airports, it's about the same. On one trip a year ago I was going to drive, but at the last minute decided to fly. My bag was already packed and I forgot that I had a very nice bottle of scotch in it (a gift for friends I was going to stay with). From the TSA response you might have thought that I showed up at the airport wearing a ski mask and wielding an Uzi.

The Blue Shirt at the checkpoint was very interested in having me simply leave the liquor behind (so I wouldn't miss my plane, he said). Fat chance. You can buy your own, creep.

I'm no fan of handguns, but so long as they are legal to own and carry, the owner should be turned away from the checkpoint and sent back to (a) leave the gun in his car (b) check the gun according to airline regulations or (c) abandon it at the checkpoint (which is truly frightening, given the number of petty criminals at TSA). This would be consistent with how TSA treats other "deadly weapons," from snow-globes to chainsaws.

But then, the TSA has never been consistent about anything.

1amWendy said...

Original article, and many more, may be found at tsanewsblog.com.

The Author