Dr. Christine Von Der Haar, Indiana University |
"Are you having sex?"
- Big Brother DHS agents hold woman against her will in a locked airport room under guard while interrogating her about her sex life.
Indianapolis – A woman who was detained without cause at Indianapolis International Airport has filed suit saying federal officials violated her constitutional rights.
The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana on behalf of Christine Von Der Haar, a senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Indiana University. In June of 2012, Von Der Haar accompanied a friend to the airport’s office of Customs and Border Protection to pick up computer equipment he had shipped separately when he flew to Indianapolis a few days earlier reports the ACLU.
The customs agent, after asking the couple if they were planning to marry, questioned them separately about email communications and the nature of their relationship, and confined Dr. Von Der Haar in a guarded room for more than 20 minutes.
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
"This case raises troubling issues about the power of the government to detain and question citizens," said ACLU of Indiana Legal Director Kenneth Falk, who represents Von Der Haar.
The lawsuit, Christine Von Der Haar v. Sherlana Lieba, Mr. Combsaclu, Cause No. No. 1:14-cv-247, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Feb. 19, 2014.
The sociology professor traveled to the airport merely to help her friend pick up some computer parts that had been shipped separately. Greek national Dimitris Papatheodoropoulos had already arrived in the country under a valid business visa which allowed him to enter and leave the United States for a period of 10 years.
Both Von Der Haar and Papatheodoropoulos were detained by DHS officers and bombarded with questions about their private lives, including whether they had shared sexual relations, with feds alleging that the two secretly conspired so that Papatheodoropoulos could stay in the country illegally.
“Given that Mr. Papatheodoropoulos had retained his hard drive that contained the emails, the only way that the Customs and Border Protection Agents could have reviewed the emails is for someone to have surreptitiously monitored the communications between Dr. Von Der Haar and Mr. Papatheodoropoulos and reported those communications to the agents questioning her,” states the lawsuit. “Defendant Lieba admitted that employees of the United States had read email communications between Dr. Von Der Haar and Mr. Papatheodoropoulos.”
Customs and Border Protection seized Papatheodoropoulos’ passport and commenced proceedings to remove him from the country, claiming he had misrepresented his intentions. After Papatheodoropoulos consulted with lawyers and the Greek Consulate in Chicago, the proceedings were halted and his passport was returned. Papatheodoropoulos left the country of his own volition in August 2012.
“CBP officers grossly exceeded their jurisdiction. Dr. Dr. Von Der Haar’s US citizenship was never questioned; she wasn’t trying to enter, leave, or ship and goods in or out of the country; and she was never accused of any crime. In general, immigration (as distinct from customs) offenses are handled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Border Patrol, not CBP. We’re curious what basis CBP will claim for its officers’ authority to detain and interrogate Dr. Dr. Von Der Haar or obtain her email,” asks Papers Please.
Either the DHS is obtaining Americans’ emails via their own undeclared (and illegal) snoop program, or they are being aided by the National Security Agency or some other government entity.
Christine Von Der Haar received her Ph.D. from Indiana University in 1985. She also holds masters degrees in journalism and secondary education. Her primary interests include social psychology, media and society, and public opinion. Chris taught her first social psychology class over 25 years ago. And, her book Social Psychology: A Sociological Perspective was published by Prentice Hall in 2005.
Chris also teaches classes on media and society. Her interest in this topic took root at CBS News where she served as the Manager of Surveys for the CBS/New York Times poll. In this position, Chris worked with reporters and producers covering political campaigns and elections. This experience allowed her to observe how two major media organizations operate on a daily basis. It also provided remarkable insight into how the media cover elections and wars.
Chris teaches a variety of sociology classes that allow her to follow her students from their freshman to senior years in college. She considers teaching undergraduate students one of her greatest rewards in life. And, she takes great pleasure in classes that allow students to express their opinions and develop their critical thinking skills. She was honored to receive the Trustees Teaching Award in 2004.
(Indiana.edu) and (Infowars News)
"Show us your papers." |
No comments:
Post a Comment