united-states air-travel
Annoying the TSA, Part II: Fake Contraband
<p><em>Part I: <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/93508/can-you-legally-have-an-unloaded-black-powder-revolver-in-your-carry-on-luggag">Can you legally have an (unloaded) black powder revolver in your carry-on luggage?</a></em></p>
<p>Say that a hypothetical person (&quot;Juan Morales&quot;) has a large clear plastic bag of talcum powder in his checked luggage. Within the talcum powder is several thousands of dollars' worth of delicate jewelry, which it is cushioning and protecting from moisture. Due to a set of bizarre coincidences, the bag of mysterious white powder has been:</p>
<ul>
<li>In front of a (legal) machine gun during a lengthy range day</li>
<li>Liberally misted with Lanacane</li>
<li>On a dying nursing home patient's nightstand while she took nebulized morphine</li>
<li>In a friend's bathroom while he (the friend) was hotboxing marijuana in a state where it's legal</li>
<li>In the same bathroom while a recently imprisoned former friend was hotboxing crack cocaine (Mr. Morales did not participate)</li>
</ul>
<p>As a result, it sets off every alarm possible, causing the TSA to arrest him and confiscate his stuff.</p>
<p>Can Mr. Morales sue them for anything? After all, he was arrested despite technically not doing anything wrong, and has lost the legally-owned jewelry that the talcum powder was keeping dry and protected.</p>
<p>EDIT: I forgot to mention that the reason he was going on the flight was to deliver the jewelry to a client (he's a jeweler). As a result of the delay, he lost the client's business.</p>
<p><em>Note: If any of the bizarre coincidences are illegal, ignore them. My point is that there's a false-positive for contraband that causes the TSA to wrongfully arrest him and confiscate $K of his property</em></p>
<p><strong>DISCLAIMER:</strong> In case you didn't figure it out already from the ridiculousness of the scenario, I have absolutely no intention of ever doing this. This is purely a hypothetical &quot;what-if&quot; question.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>he was arrested despite technically not doing anything wrong</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He was arrested because there was probable cause to believe that he was involved in the commission of a felony.  The arrest was legal even if he was innocent.  He has no basis for a successful lawsuit.</p>
