Student Pilot Who Gets 5 Months for Lying on His Application for Medical

"Theorem" "theorem AT axiometric DOT org" wrote in message
...
What conceivable legitimacy does the government have in sticking
its nose into one's misdemeanor record on an airman medical form
specifically designed for inquiry into his health?

The government has an interest in this for at least several reasons,
not the least of which is the simple expediency of seeing if the
applicant is being truthful on the application. This is important to
determine, if possible, and the method used is reasonable, in my view.
Ask a straightup question, the answer to which is public information
anyway, and see if the applicant is candid in replying.

Besides, "health" includes more than just physical health. Mental and
emotional health are equally important and also come under the heading
"medical". Someone with a string of non-traffic misdemeanors may not
be a suitable candidate for an airman certificate, depending on the
nature of the offenses. If that person is willing to lie about them on
an official application, to conduct a cover-up, then that person would
be likely, in my view anyway, to lie about other things, perhaps even
falsify other records such as log book entries, or to claim some
certification he or she does not possess. Why take the chance? Why
fail to check the barn door when it is easy to do so?

What does the physician care if you've pleaded guilty to speeding
and had to go to driver improvement clinic in order to remove
points from your license?

The physician does not care. That's not his or her job. But the public
at large is legitimately very interested in every airman applicant's
truthfulness regarding his or her legal status, criminal history, if
any, and medical condition, and the FAA's job is to make flying safe
for everyone, in the air and on the ground.

Lots and lots of people have been convicted of misdemeanors. Many have
done time. In my case, I paid a fine. And yes, when one has paid one's
fine and/or served one's time, one should no longer be dogged by the
charge. In and of itself, this should be no bar to obtaining an airman
certificate. Indeed, it is not. Even most felonies are probably not a
bar to aviation, depending on the harm or danger caused to others,
i.e., the lack of regard for the safty of others. But lying about it
certainly should be a bar to certification. What would you have, a
certified liar in command? Great confidence builder!

Another reason to support full disclosure on the application, as well
as the proscription against lying and the attendant penalties for
being untruthful, is that there is nowhere else to draw a clear line.
Some lies are worse than others. Some omitted information is more
critical than other omitted information. Yes, no doubt, but where can
you draw the line? Without a total ban on false statements on
applications, and suitably stiff penalties for making them, the
situation could not be managed efficiently.

Thanks for listening, even if you disagree.

Ralph

Questionable mental health based on embarrassment to admit to an old
misdemeanor like violation of the age of consent or trespassing? Who
are
you trying to kid? Irrational inquiries like this, which didn't
start, by the way,
until after 9-11, the serendipitous event for all the
totalitarianism-lovers
in government to get out their little pencils, wiggle their big rodent
noses, and begin drawing up regulations, border on Stalinism.

Two well-to-do pilots I know are guaranteed to have lied on their
airman
medical forms because in their younger years they had serious criminal
offenses that were expunged. If your family has money and can afford
a
Brooks Brothers lawyer, then you can get just about any conviction
expunged,
and the complete record erased forever. Well, theoretically.

You don't know the can of worms opened here. Either that are you are
side-stepping. A prominent judge had two sons, true story. One is
now a lawyer, the
other a banker. One of those sons as a young man participated in a
string
of felony burglaries. Every monied and politically powerful move was
made
to extricate that young criminal from his responsibility and clean up
his filth.
But he was convicted and in his small town everybody knowledgeable
knows he
is a felon. But his record was expunged. Prominent people are
entitled aristocrats.
Now when he applies for an airman medical, do you think he will admit
to
being a convicted felon? Think about it. Is he still a felon or is
he not? Expungement means he doesn't have to answer when officially
asked if he is a felon or had a felony conviction.

And will this aristocrat be prosecuted if he lies? Nope.
Prosecutions are for the masses, not the aristocrats.

What about the man who had misdemeanor convictions expunged, or the
woman
who had a juvenile record, which is now sealed. What does either of
those
persons answer on the airman medical form?

WTF is it about 9-11 that made the new sweeping inquiry so necessary?
Rank
and file Americans now being punished by this despicable federal form
authored by stalinist weasels, and
the unconstitutional Patriot Act.

Given, we don't want drug users, drug dealers, alcoholics, or drunks
flying.
But do we have to inquire into every infraction in an airman's life
just
because the FBI and the Bush Administration sat on their asses while
scores
of fanatical Saudi muslims made a public spectacle of themselves
running
around the country loose and unscrutinized, conspicuously plotting to
convert airliners into gigantic bombs?