Final Word from Monday, August 11, 2014
If U.S. officials have their doubts about a citizen but don't have enough to ask a court for a search warrant, they can just wait for the person to pass through an airport. U.S. airports are what civil-liberty advocates call "constitution-free zones." Federal agents can seize a laptop, mobile phone or other electronic device at an airport check without a warrant or any of the "probable cause" required under the U.S. Constitution. According to Forbes, thousands of people get this treatment every year. What works in America eventually makes its way across the pond. An unnamed Czech police officer told Právo that a customs inspection at an airport is an easy way to get access to someone's personal information, such as the contents of a telephone. Prague State Prosecutor Dagmar Máchová, who some people suspect of covering up the role of Pavel Bém in the Opencard case, was given the full monty at Prague Airport upon return from a foreign vacation. Good enough reason for many Czech businesspeople and politicians to start flying in and out of Munich. [Czech Republic United States TSA]
Glossary of difficult words
probable cause - reasonable grounds (for making a search, pressing a charge, etc.);
the pond - the Atlantic ocean;
full monty - the works; the full amount expected, desired or possible.