The Volokh Conspiracy - Sex, Drugs, and the Patriot Act:

Well, no drugs, actually, but this one does combine sex and the Patriot Act. [BUT SEE UPDATE, which exlains that it really is just about sex.] AFP is reporting, via Drudge:

A couple's ill-concealed sexual play aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles got them charged with violating the Patriot Act, intended for terrorist acts, and could land them in jail for 20 years.

According to their indictment, Carl Persing and Dawn Sewell were allegedly snuggling and kissing inappropriately, "making other passengers uncomfortable," when a flight attendant asked them to stop. . . .

On a second warning from the flight attendant, Persing snapped back threatening the flight attendant with "serious consequences" if he did not leave them alone.

The comment was enough to have the couple, both in their early 40s, arrested when the plane reached its destination in Raleigh, North Carolina, and charged with obstructing a flight attendant and with criminal association.

This story doesn't seem to add up. The relevant provision of the Patriot Act is 18 U.S.C. 1993(a)(5), which punishes whoever:

interferes with, disables, or incapacitates any dispatcher, driver, captain, or person while they are employed in dispatching, operating, or maintaining a mass transportation vehicle or ferry, with intent to endanger the safety of any passenger or employee of the mass transportation provider, or with a reckless disregard for the safety of human life.

In addition, 18 U.S.C. 1993(a)(8) prohibits "threaten[ing]" to do an act in (a)(5).

  However, nothing in the story suggests that Persing actually threatened to interfere with, disable, or incapacitate the flight attendant while he was doing his job with intent to endanger his safety. It sounds like Persing was actually quite occupied with other things. And it's unclear what role Sewell had here, at least in a criminal sense.

  If any one has a copy of the indictment, send it on.

  UPDATE: The indictment is here. As Armen suggests, the AFP story is wrong: the charges aren't being brought under the Patriot Act but rather under 49 U.S.C.A. § 46504:

An individual on an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States who, by assaulting or intimidating a flight crew member or flight attendant of the aircraft, interferes with the performance of the duties of the member or attendant or lessens the ability of the member or attendant to perform those duties, or attempts or conspires to do such an act, shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both.

The Patriot Act did amend this statute: Secton 811(i) of the Patriot Act added the phrase "or attempts or conspires to do such an act." However, the substantive offense that was charged dates back to the 1960s.

	[Orin Kerr, November 15, 2006 at 2:00pm] Trackbacks Sex, Drugs, and the Patriot Act: Well, no drugs, actually, but this one does combine sex and the Patriot Act. [BUT SEE UPDATE, which exlains that it really is just about sex.] AFP is reporting, via Drudge: A couple's ill-concealed sexual play aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles got them charged with violating the Patriot Act, intended for terrorist acts, and could land them in jail for 20 years. According to their indictment, Carl Persing and Dawn Sewell were allegedly snuggling and kissing inappropriately, "making other passengers uncomfortable," when a flight attendant asked them to stop. . . . On a second warning from the flight attendant, Persing snapped back threatening the flight attendant with "serious consequences" if he did not leave them alone. The comment was enough to have the couple, both in their early 40s, arrested when the plane reached its destination in Raleigh, North Carolina, and charged with obstructing a flight attendant and with criminal association. This story doesn't seem to add up. The relevant provision of the Patriot Act is 18 U.S.C. 1993(a)(5), which punishes whoever: interferes with, disables, or incapacitates any dispatcher, driver, captain, or person while they are employed in dispatching, operating, or maintaining a mass transportation vehicle or ferry, with intent to endanger the safety of any passenger or employee of the mass transportation provider, or with a reckless disregard for the safety of human life. In addition, 18 U.S.C. 1993(a)(8) prohibits "threaten[ing]" to do an act in (a)(5). However, nothing in the story suggests that Persing actually threatened to interfere with, disable, or incapacitate the flight attendant while he was doing his job with intent to endanger his safety. It sounds like Persing was actually quite occupied with other things. And it's unclear what role Sewell had here, at least in a criminal sense. If any one has a copy of the indictment, send it on. UPDATE: The indictment is here. As Armen suggests, the AFP story is wrong: the charges aren't being brought under the Patriot Act but rather under 49 U.S.C.A. § 46504: An individual on an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States who, by assaulting or intimidating a flight crew member or flight attendant of the aircraft, interferes with the performance of the duties of the member or attendant or lessens the ability of the member or attendant to perform those duties, or attempts or conspires to do such an act, shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both. The Patriot Act did amend this statute: Secton 811(i) of the Patriot Act added the phrase "or attempts or conspires to do such an act." However, the substantive offense that was charged dates back to the 1960s.