California bureaucrats have auction fever when it comes to all those items confiscated at the airport. Rather than try to reunite items with their rightful owners, California is hocking them on Ebay.

Nicola Place, who flew out of Oakland is not too happy about he sound of that. Screeners seized from her a Swiss Army knife that her father had given her 20 years ago. "It broke my heart," she said. "It had been everywhere with me."
Thinking about it ending up on EBay, she said, "It makes me sad. . . . It irks me that they can take it away and make money off us. It's bad enough they take it away."

I'm inclined to agree. I think that anyone who has something seized should get the option of having it placed into an envelope, marked, and sealed right there at the security counter. It should then be shipped to the owners address at their expense, or held for a temporary period, so that they have a chance to come back and reclaim it. Another option would be to allow the person to merely check the item, and give it back to the person at baggage claim.

That actually happened to one of my co-workers several years ago when he showed up to the x-ray machine with a complete tool kit issued him by our company. The tool kit contained everything from pliers and screwdrivers to a hacksaw. Confiscating the items was never even a thought, the screener simply handed everything back to him and told him to go check the items at the counter.

The idea that items are to be confiscated with no possibility of reclaiming them disturbs me. Last year, TSA screeners tried to take away a veteran's Congressional Medal of Honor. I've also heard the horror stories out of corruption plagued Atlanta Hartsfield, where screeners confiscated jewelry and charms off of charm bracelets. The items suspiciously never made it to the 'lost and found', and presumably ended up as someone's Christmas gift.

I'm not saying that all screeners are dishonest, but you must admit there is plenty of temptation. Now that temptation has spread to the cash strapped People's Republic of California.