Spank your Kids on Plane-Go to Jail as a Terrorist

Tamera Jo Freeman was on a Frontier Airlines flight to Denver in 2007 when her two children began to quarrel over the window shade and then spilled a Bloody Mary into her lap.

She spanked each of them on the thigh with three swats. It was a small incident, but one that in the heightened anxiety after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks would eventually have enormous ramifications for Freeman and her children.

A flight attendant confronted Freeman, who responded by hurling a few profanities and throwing what remained of a can of tomato juice on the floor.

The incident aboard the Frontier flight ultimately led to Freeman's arrest and conviction for a federal felony defined as an act of terrorism under the Patriot Act, the controversial federal law enacted after the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.

"I had no idea I was breaking the law," said Freeman, 40, who spent three months in jail before pleading guilty.

Freeman is one of at least 200 people on flights who have been convicted under the amended law. In most of the cases, there was no evidence that the passengers had attempted to hijack the airplane or physically attack any of the flight crew. Many have simply involved raised voices, foul language and drunken behavior.

Some security experts say the use of the law by airlines and their employees has run amok, criminalizing incidents that did not start out as a threat to public safety, much less an act of terrorism.

Indeed, the law has given airlines new flexibility to clamp down on unruly behavior. But the intent of the Patriot Act provisions was to put terrorists in violation of the law before they could execute an actual takeover, said Nathan Sales, a law professor at George Mason University who helped write the Patriot Act when he served in the Justice Department.

Well, I will say this. This lady's actions were not right, but they DEFINITELY were NOT worthy of a TERRORIST ACT. But thanks to the OVERREACHING PATRIOT ACT, the Airlines will continue to ABUSE their authority.

It is time to ABOLISH the Patriot Act NOW. It clearly is being abused to prosecute Americans for nothing more than unruly behavior. It is ridiculous that this lady had to spend 3 months in jail and get prosecuted as a Terrorist for just some unruly behavior.

The most she should have gotten was a small fine and not be allowed to fly on this particular airlines.

But our Congress, in its rush to do something post 9-11, rushed through anti-civil liberties laws like the Patriot Act.

But this should also serve as an example to all parents. Thanks to knee-jerking Liberals out there, DO NOT SPANK YOUR KIDS IN PUBLIC. I don't think that there is any thing wrong with spanking your kids, but MANY IDIOT LIBERALS DO.

So do yourselves a favor and make it a policy not to spank your kids IN PUBLIC. There are way too many busybody people ready to yell "child abuse" and the next thing you know, the authorities have taken away your kids.

However, on the Patriot Act, it is time for it to be Abolished.

Call or Write your Congressman, and tell them it is time to Abolish the Patriot Act.

Jimbo