That's a great question, but not what you originally asked and not what my answer was for.

You asked: Which Constitutional right is being violated?

I answered: Unreasonable search and seizure. Privacy. Neither is an absolute right. Both must be weighed, benefit vs. infringement.

As a pilot, can we as a group say we are separate from the public and the risks we pose to the system are minimal and any intrusive search on us is unconstitutional? Yes. Can we argue that the alternative backscatter machines pose an unsafe health risk to us over the normal traveling public because of our already high exposure to radiation and the only option we have is to go through the "excessive search?" Yup. Can we say this search is unreasonable in light of the fact that we undergo heightened security checks and background searches? Absolutely.

If you want me to find a better way for the TSA to stop the underwear bomber, that's not my job. Force everyone through the bacskatter machine if need be.

My concern is for us as pilots. Is the TSA slowly killing us by bombarding us with excessive x-rays 10 times a month? In light of all the scrutiny we go through already, are they trampling on our rights by "frisking" us when we pose a minimal threat to the system?

How many pilots have been caught with a bomb between their nuts? If the number is zero, we have a case to be made that the frisk is unreasonable and unconstitutional.

New K