Searching Bags, Searching Minds

Random bag searches recently became standard procedure in the New York subway system.

I'm trying to understand the people who believe that this somehow advances the cause of western society; that by becoming less free, we're protecting our freedom against attacks by terrorists.

Would you also consent to random stops and searches in department stores? If not, why not? And if that is OK, how about restaurants? How about anywhere where lots of people gather and terrorists could maximize civilian casualties — let's say, baseball games? Block parties? Movie theaters? School cafetarias? The beach? The opera? Would that be OK? If not, why not?

Would you mind being patted down, wanded, questioned, and ordered to remove your footwear every time you walk into Grand Central Terminal or a BART station? If that's too much, how about just a simple bag search every time you enter such transportation hotspots? And if security personnel find something in your bag that alarms them — a pair of scissors, say, or knitting needles, or a bottle of wine, all of which could be used to highjack a train and crash it — what is the allowed procedure then? What may they ask of you at that point?

What part of your person may security officers search? A female terrorist might hide a bomb in her underwear (you'll recall that Chechen women are said to have brought two Russian passenger planes down with bra bombs). So, if you're a woman, would you consent to a random bra search now and then, whereby a trained, uniformed security cop pulls you out of a crowd at Times Square or Disneyworld or Washington D.C.'s Union Station, and gives your breasts a quick pat and a squeeze? If not, why not?

And if that is all right, then under which circumstances, and at which locations, would you also consent to a full cavity search? May a trained professional at the Mall of America discreetly place you behind a curtain, request that you spread your buttocks, and shine a flaslight up your anus? If not, why not?

Where do you draw the line, and why there? Remember, these measures are simply intended to make us all safer. They're designed to defend our freedom against the terrorists, right?

Also, should the Fourth Amendment be more loosely or more strictly applied as the official terror warning level goes down, then back up again? Which rights and liberties are worth holding onto, in your view, and which parts of the Constitution may be safely suspended or abolished?

Comments

[Melissa]

The fourth amendment protects against unreasonable searches. In the wake of the London bombings, searching a few random bags in NY, I think, is reasonable.

[Bronwyn]

The point is, where do you draw the "reasonable" line?

I've had my boobs grabbed and squeezed at airports and it absolutely infuriated me. Now I feel the need to wear a sports bra when I travel, so there's no underwire to draw suspicion.

The whole thing is ridiculous.