Jesse Ventura Ponders Eighth Circuit TSA Lawsuit?

By Robyn Hagan Cain on November 07, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Jesse Ventura has been many things in his life - a professional wrestler, Navy SEAL, and Minnesota governor - but he's no longer a patriot.

That's because U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson dismissed Ventura's lawsuit against Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Ventura, who received a titanium hip implant in 2008, claims that he is unconstitutionally subjected to TSA's enhanced body-imaging technology and full-body patdowns because he does not pose a threat to airline safety.

Judge Nelson found that the district court did not have jurisdiction to hear Ventura's TSA lawsuit because federal law grants exclusive jurisdiction over TSA challenges to the circuit courts of appeal. Though the district judge did not indicate which circuit would hear the claim, our bets are on either the D.C. or Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

"The Body" is now debating whether he wants to move to Mexico, run for president of the "Fascist States of America," or pursue his claim in a circuit court of appeals. One drawback to filing his claim with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals? Ventura wants to plead his case before a jury.

While Ventura contemplates his next legal move, he's also making plans for civil disobedience. "I will never stand for a national anthem again. I will turn my back and I will raise a fist," he told the Huffington Post. (Gov. Ventura: You might want to re-think that strategy if you actually decide to run for president. Then again, you're a renegade. It could work for you.)

Though his tagline, "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat" served Ventura well in the wrestling ring, we don't think it would make for a good legal strategy before the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals; cheating in court often involves bribery, which is prohibited under federal law.

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