Metaboston

Star Simpson to Go to Trial

Star Simpson, the MIT student who is accused of bringing a hoax bomb to Logan when she wore a lit sign, will go to trial.

"If it goes to trial, the student, Star Simpson, as well as other students from MIT are expected to testify that she had been wearing the device to attract attention at a college career fair."

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"[Her lawyer] denied that the device could have been confused with an incendiary device and said Simpson had a First Amendment right to express herself by wearing it. He said yesterday that an airport clerk had asked Simpson to turn off the device's blinking lights while she was inside the terminal and that Simpson complied by unplugging its battery."

It still seems hard to believe that they really believe she was trying to fool anyone.  It must be hard to admit they made a mistake. (Image:  Alex Hornstein)

Logan is one of 10 U.S. airports beginning to use new 10 finger fingerprint scanners for all foreigners arriving at the airport

Logan is one of 10 U.S. airports beginning to use new 10 finger fingerprint scanners for all foreigners arriving at the airport. 

The London Times reports that there have been claims of false identifications made by the scanners:

" Miguel Espinoza brought a lawsuit against Identix in 2004 after his prints were wrongly assigned to a convicted murderer. The case was dismissed after the judge ruled that human error, and not the scanner, had caused the mix-up, but human-rights groups say overdependence on technology will continue to put travellers at risk."

There have also been increasing concerns that fingerprint evidence may not be as reliable as once thought.