So our bags will now be checked in the subways. Apparently people carrying illegal drugs can now get arrested during these searches. What happens if other illegal items are found? Say, lap dogs, which may or may not technically be allowed in the subway? Minors carrying alcohol or porn? I'd imagine that not so many NYers are would-be terrorist, but tons probably have something suspect in their bags. So are all these people about to get arrested? Is there any possible way to check bags that will actually prevent terrorists from getting into the train? Yikes. In any case, what with the constant threat of evacuation, it's probably time to start thinking about wearing more practical shoes on the subway. Or at the very least to learn to climb stairs in wedge espadrilles.
Tangentially, why must the "Babu" Seinfeld be on tonight? Is this really the moment to show an episode about a Pakistani immigrant getting deported and threatening to kill people, plotting to "exact vengeance" against Westerners from back in Pakistan?
Friday, July 22, 2005
What's in New Yorkers' bags?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
"Apparently people carrying illegal drugs can now get arrested during these searches."
You can refuse the search and leave the station. (I was worried about my marijuana delivery guy before I read the article.)
"with the constant threat of evacuation, it's probably time to start thinking about wearing more practical shoes on the subway."
Be real. Your odds of being involved in a subway bombing are pretty damn low. You'd be better off just popping a Xanax before riding.
"Tangentially, why must the "Babu" Seinfeld be on tonight? Is this really the moment to show an episode about a Pakistani immigrant getting deported and threatening to kill people, plotting to "exact vengeance" against Westerners from back in Pakistan?"
Yes, it really is the moment. It's crucial to understand the root causes of the current conflict.
Al Qaeda had been focusing on Australia before the Babu incident.
I hope these searches aren't too random. They should be stopping every male under 40 who looks like they might be an arab or pakistani. There's no point stopping 20 year old blonde chicks or 50 year old hispanic women just to look PC.
Aren't these searches a violation of the 4th Amendment?
Dean,
What do they do when you get on an airplane? Do they . . . search you? Yeah, they do, if you're picked at random or if they feel like it, and they certainly x-ray your bags. Fourth amendment? In the immortal words of Ali G, grow a brain.
As for the subway in New York, it's only fair that a city that is home to so many people trying to undermine the war against the terrorists should have to bear the brunt of the inconveniences that derive from their full-throated, suicidal positions.
What I recall from my criminal procedure course is that a search while you are inside the station, unless it's with probable cause or incidental to arrest, would be unconstitutional. So would a search when you get out of the station.
But Petey is right: a search of people entering the station is constitutional if the people who refuse the search are allowed to refuse the search, not enter the station and walk away. The only constitutional reason for such a search is security in the subway system, and that objective is obtained if the person who refuses the search does not enter the system. Otherwise the search could become just a pretext for searching people without probable cause.
(The folks at Crescat should feel free to correct me.)
Post a Comment