Judge Tosses Jesse Ventura’s Airport Scans Lawsuit

ST. PAUL, Minn. November 4, 2011 (AP)

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura in which he sought to challenge the use of full-body scans and pat-downs at airport checkpoints.

Ventura sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration in January alleging that the scans and pat-downs violated his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizure.

U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson ruled Thursday that the court lacked jurisdiction.

Ventura claimed that the titanium hip implanted in him in 2008 sets off metal detectors and that agents previously used hand-held wands to scan his body. He says he was subjected to a body pat-down after an airport metal detector went off last November.

Ventura’s attorney says Ventura will comment Friday outside the St. Paul federal courthouse.