An Oregon man who stripped naked at an airport security screening checkpoint must pay a $500 fine after a federal appeals court ruled that the First Amendment does not protect this method of protest.
The nude protest at Portland International Airport (PDX) by a traveler named John Brennan prompted legal action by both the federal government and the state of Oregon. Portland prosecutors charged him with indecent exposure. A local judge acquitted him, saying that Oregon cannot “punish” him for his nudity, which amounted to protest speech protected by the First Amendment.
Federal authorities also imposed a civil fine for violating a US law that prohibits “interference with screening personnel.” The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, siding with the government, ruled last week that the First Amendment is no defense to getting naked in a TSA security line.
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Source: Ars Technica – Sorry, you can’t protest security screening by getting naked for the TSA