i don't think anybody would see the choice of an enhanced patdown as giving up rights but then again i am not a lawyer. also what's happening in this kind of situation is that somebody's accusing a law enforcement agent of molesting her in a place where there might be conflicting jurisdictions, so the interpersonal aspects could be tricky.

TSA agents are not law enforcement officers, they have no power of arrest. They are the same as airline ticket agents; they can deny or grant you boarding but they certainly will not use force to do that -- they call a police officer whenever force is needed.

Precisely. It would be interesting to see a lawyer's take on it.

aha, at least one person is downvoting as part of a campaign to bury stories about body scanners as off-topic for HN. well there ya go.