Tamera Jo Freeman, 40, is a normal looking, suburban mom. The only thing that is different about her than most other suburban mothers, is that she spent three months in jail and had her children temporarily taken away because of her arrest and conviction for an act defined as terrorism under the Patriot Act.

So what exactly did she do?? She spanked her children after they began to fight with each other and spilled a drink all over her. Three swats each on the thigh. From a mom… a simple symbolic gesture…. Behave.

A flight attendant confronted Freeman, who responded by hurling a few profanities and throwing what remained of a can of tomato juice on the floor.

The incident aboard the Frontier flight ultimately led to Freeman’s arrest and conviction for a federal felony defined as an act of terrorism under the Patriot Act, the controversial federal law enacted after the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington.

While it may not have been the best reaction, I can see why a parent would get mad at someone else trying to tell them how to handle their kids… After all, I know my children better than anyone, and what it takes for them to listen.

But after 9/11, Some security experts say the use of the law by airlines and their employees has run amok, criminalizing incidents that did not start out as a threat to public safety, much less an act of terrorism. At least 200 people on flights have been convicted under the amended law, some simply involved raised voices, foul language and drunken behavior.

“In one case, a couple was arrested after an argument with a flight attendant, who claimed the couple was engaged in “overt sexual activity” — an FBI affidavit said the two were “embracing, kissing and acting in a manner that made other passengers uncomfortable.”

Does that qualify as terrorism?

“We have gone completely berserk on this issue,” said Charles Slepian, a New York security consultant. “These are not threats to national security or threats to aircraft.”

“A woman spanking her child is not as great a threat to aviation as members of Al Qaeda with box cutters. That much is clear,” he said.

Since  Congress passed the Patriot Act, which is a sweeping attempt to improve the nation’s defenses against international terrorism, it included broad new powers for law enforcement in such areas as electronic surveillance, money laundering and search warrants.

Included were two key provisions on airline security. The first defined disruptive behavior as a terrorist act, reflecting the seismic shift in airline security.

The second broadened the existing criminal law so that any attempt or conspiracy to interfere with a flight crew became a felony — a change that allowed flight personnel to act against suspicious passengers even if they hadn’t begun an actual assault.

The law gave flight personnel enormous latitude in determining what precisely posed a potential threat or disruption, and judging by some cases, there is no clear standard.

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