Stardate 20020211.1434

(On Screen): The airline industry continues its slow suicide, partly helped by some rather stupid federal regulations. In this case, there is a rule that no-one in an airliner is permitted to leave his seat during the last half hour of any flight terminating in Salt Lake City during the Olympics.

Five minutes into that interval, a passenger left his seat to use the bathroom. Upon landing, he was arrested. Apparently he risks a 20 year term in prison for "interfering with a flight crew" because of this.

I believe we have now officially gone overboard. So far as I know, the 8th amendment hasn't been repealed yet. Recently the 9th Circuit Court found that a 25-year-to-life prison term for shoplifting was "cruel and unusual", and thus could not be imposed under California's "three strikes" law even when the defendant had a prior conviction for assault with a deadly weapon.

Since there seems to be no indication that the aptly named Bizarro has any criminal history at all, it's hard to see how a 20 year sentence could be appropriate for the act of using the restroom.

It is clear that we have reached the point where we are being asked to trade our liberty for security. I prefer liberty, myself.