united-states fourth-amendment transportation
Can the TSA still give you a pat down even if you change your mind about flying?
<p>I recently discovered that the TSA will pull you aside and inform you that they have to give you a full pat down for failing to empty everything out of your pants pockets before going through the scanner. I had to go through this procedure because I had failed to remove two folded up paper towels from my pants pocket. I often use a paper towel as a substitute for a handkerchief.</p>

<p>I am wondering if I had refused the pat down and had instructed them to return my belongings because I had decided at that moment to travel to my destination via an alternate means such as via a car or bus, would they still have the authority to pat me down?</p>

<p>No.</p>

<p>The requirement for air passengers to undergo a security inspection is imposed at <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/49/1540.107#a" rel="nofollow noreferrer">49 CFR 1540.107(a)</a>.  This imposes the security screening as a condition of entering the sterile area of the airport and of boarding an aircraft:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(a) No individual may enter a sterile area or board an aircraft without submitting to the screening and inspection of his or her person and accessible property in accordance with the procedures being applied to control access to that area or aircraft under this subchapter.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>A statutory basis for this requirement may be found in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/49/44902#a_1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">49 USC 44902(a)(1)</a>, which prohibits airlines from carrying a passenger who has withheld consent to such a search:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(a) Mandatory Refusal.—The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration shall prescribe regulations requiring an air carrier, intrastate air carrier, or foreign air carrier to refuse to transport—<br>
  (1) a passenger who does not consent to a search under section 44901(a) of this title establishing whether the passenger is carrying unlawfully a dangerous weapon, explosive, or other destructive substance; or<br>
  (2) ...</p>
</blockquote>

<p>None of this authorizes the TSA to continue screening a passenger who is no longer planning to enter the sterile area.</p>
