The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
-U.S. Constitution, Fourth Amendment (Ratified December 15, 1791)
Forget all that Constitution non-sense and fast forward 219 years to present day:
Commuters who ride PATCO trains between southern New Jersey and Philadelphia should expect random searches of their clothing, pockets, bags and vehicles on their morning trip to work.
Twelve Transportation Security Administration screeners, armed with an explosive-sniffing K-9, checked 663 commuter bags randomly selected from the morning rush at the Lindenwold station Tuesday.
“It was chaotic,” Kevin Greczyn, an accountant from Magnolia who commutes to Philadelphia daily, told the Courier Post. “Nobody was sure what was happening, whether it was safe to get on the train, or whether we were carrying something we shouldn’t be.â€
Delaware River Port Authority Police Chief David McClintock told The Courier Post of Cherry Hill screeners were looking for improvised explosive devices and weapons.
…
The chief says that out of the 6663 bags searched between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., a crack pipe was the only item confiscated.
source: NBC Philadelphia
In the New America everyone is a suspect – a person of interest. It is clear that no warrants were issued and there was no probable cause.
Unless there was a direct threat to the commuters on the PATCO trains, there is no real justification for the TSA to perform these searches.
Of course, they were acting in our interest, and we can be sure the justification from TSA’s point of view is, “if you’re not doing anything wrong, then you have nothing to worry about.”
The TSA is now able to stop anyone, anywhere and search them without a warrant or probable cause. Since the “person,” as outlined in the fourth amendment is no longer protected, how long before TSA and other law enforcement agencies justify pre-emptive, random searches of “houses” without warrants or probable cause in the interest of public safety with the justification being that at some point you will enter public space, and thus, may be carrying explosives or restricted weapons and pose a danger to society?
Hat Tip GoldenFoxx
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I see it only getting worse, and keeping in mind that 9/11 is right around the corner, and that Al Qaeda love anniversaries for surprise attacks, it does not surprise me in the least. Â I used to get off the bus in Port Authority daily and have SWAT, National Guard etc. at the bottom of the steps and every door weapons in hand keeping an eye out during holidays and event dates like 9/11.
As for the searches, was it because there was real chatter or was it a PR stunt to make people think they were safe, even though I am sure it scared the hell out of some thinking something more was afoot?
I was stopped on a public sidewalk one bright sunny day a few years ago and two officers requested to search my briefcase. I politely told them “no” and they were not at all subtle about letting me know I was risking an immediate arrest. I was not given a reason for the request; only that I was being asked and if I did not comply it would likely go hard on me. When I was asked if there was anything in the briefcase I was afraid of them seeing I told them there wasn’t but that was not the point. We had a stilted conversation and I told them I would cooperate to the fullest if they had a search warrant which they told me could be arranged but it might take an hour or two. Even though my schedule didn’t have much flexibility, I was already committed at that point so I told them “fine, get it”. We waited about 30 minutes and one of the officers asked me if again if there was anything in the briefcase that was going to cause me any trouble. I repeated my absolute confidence that there was nothing in it illegal and he finally told me he believed me and to go on my way. I’ll never know what it was all about but I often thought about how there I was — a white guy in an expensive suit with a Rolex and wearing expensive cologne. If I had fit a different profile I bet they would have just hauled me in and let the chips fall where they may. I don’t know if I would do the same thing again in 2010. And I regret that things have changed in this country so much that I would even consider just saying to hell with it and tell them “take a look” then be on my way.
When is enough, enough?
We conscious citizens of a Constitutional
Republic, are going to end up giving it
all away.
We are going to write, blog and individually
resist our way into defeat; smug in our
knowledge that we are not sheeple.
“Are we not men?” “We are Devo!”
Meat  Eater,
My son is just finishing Law school and we  went over this.
You did the right thing. Â Never consent to a search. Â Police these days are always wanting you to give them permission to search your car or person.
The correct response is : “I do not consent to searches” If they want to search your car, then they have to get a warrant.
At all times, be as respectable and polite as you can be.
After  the officer gets through telling you, how hard they can make it, for not cooperating with them, then, in the nicest and plainest way,  your very next statement is to be “Are you holding me, or am I free to go?” The officer will either arrest you, if  he really has a reason, or most likely say you are free to go.  Then go.
The average Joe would just comply and carry on as if it were normal. Thank you Mr. Policeman for watching out for us…..
Comments…..
The average Joe would just comply and carry on as if it were normal. Thank you Mr. Policeman for watching out for us…..
A few years ago…my response was…why would you refuse if you have nothing to hide??
My response now is…..get a warrant..
Where will this stop??
Our houses, purses, wallets, school bags….???
haven’t any of you realized yet that the constitution is a relic of a bygone (LONG gone) era? why should any of this surprise us? we’re just going to roll over and take it anyway… the consequences are too high NOT to (i.e. arrest, loss of income or even your job, costs of legal defense – win or lose, public scrutiny of your life, etc…).
It will go on until someone with nothing (physical or metaphysical) snaps and goes apeshiat, and MAYBE if other people with LESS to lose follow suit…
I’ve been beating this drum for a while now. Â There are over 40,000 wrongful search warrants served every year. Â That was not a typo. Â According to the CATO institute, (you know, the ones we all quote to try and get the gun-grabbers to leave us alone), if you must know.
Here in Seattle, the cops have executed 6 people in the last week, right out on the streets. Â One guy, they tasered to death. Â Another guy (deaf native Indian woodcarver who was not threatening anyone) they shot four times, three in the heart and lungs, and one through the face. Â The “oversight board” is doing their deal right now, but everyone knows that the cop will be found to have “acted in a justified manner”. Â The mere formalities are underway right now.
If in an encounter with a cop, the best thing you can do is to empty your hands, and kneel on the ground, screaming at the top of your lungs “PLEASE DON’T SHOOT ME!!!” over and over.
The cops we have now are the true life incarnations of that old stallone movie “judge dredd”. Â They have the legal authority to execute you on the spot.
@ Johnny V
LOL – now THAT is funny!
/Don’t taze me bro!
We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What proudly we hailed at the twilight’s gleaming?
One Shot, I know how you feel. Â I know that those words have powerful meaning for you. Â They do for me too. Â The problem is that those words don’t mean anything to the average beat cop. Â Those words are out-moded and have been replaced.
I liked that sheriff in stalone’s First Blood movie. There was an honest cop doing his job. It’s a pity he didn’t let his deputy shoot rambo in the head in the main street during the escape. The movie was fun but it sent a terrible message to the american public, namely that your small town isn’t yours and anyone can come in and tear it up.
Role models? Stallone was a jerk, like most action stars, like Arnie! And what does the public do? Vote him in as a Governor. lol lol. People are truly dumb but the TV and the movie theater have removed what little common sense they had.
Take my advice, when the golden hoard starts its rambling up your country road, shoot them, shoot them all and put their heads on pikes out on the highway as a warning to the rest. Those idiots will be your undoing, they will kill you in your sleep for you pantry.
They’ll kill you for the calories in your pantry. Â Most Americans are obese and far out of shape. Â We’ve had eight years of war in Afganistan and Iraq, and we better be praising God (and all other religious honchos) that our troops weren’t facing Imperial Japanese troops, or German SS battalions. Â 5000 dead in 9 years doesn’t even add up to ONE WEEK ON IWO JIMA.
I see Sketch putting up the (now classic) “don’t tase me bro” line, and One Shot reciting the documents that helped found our nation. Â The only one who made any sense was Wooba, and he quoted a movie (sort of). Â Our constitution has been replaced by a movie. Â Everyone should think about that for a while …….
Thanks for your vote of affirmation Jonny V.
There is so much talk today and so many opinions about things that just don’t matter anymore. Things that are not real, or have real worth. Like bragging about a fist full of stock certificates from some defunct Dot_com.
All that matters is what matters. Your constitution mattered when the majority of people acted on it. In a thousand years it will be gone anyway, completely forgotton, and the US will not exist in the it’s current form, if at all.
People have many failings, they follow herds, they are too trusting, they refuse to think for themselves, and worst of all, they refuse to think beyond next week or next year. Basically, they live in the past.
We survivalists have to be ready to shun all the crap that worked in the good times, the brotherhood of man, the sanctity of life, the need to support state and even community. Anything that is a hinderance to our life and liberty going forward. That is how battles are won, battles like the civil war, where brother killed brother. Morals don’t come into it when your protecting your life and freedom.
Documents like the magna carta and the constitution’s of nations were written for a bygone era, AFTER the smoke of battle had cleared and people needed to unite. In the times we face, pieces of paper will only be useful for wiping your arse on or lighting fires with. No one will care but the cannon fodder, sent to fight the oil wars.
I lived in Niagara Falls, NY four a couple of years, up to two years ago. There was a little town east of Niagara Falls called Niagara, NY. Just off the I-90 on a main road that ran from Niagara Falls to Niagara the Niagara police and Niagara county sheriffs department REGULARLY, as in twice a week, performed random stops and searches of vehicles. There would be 8 cars or more out there pulling people over randomly and searching their vehicles. Frightening.
Comments…..It’s not just south of the border. In Vancouver during the Olympics, I watched police search people as they arrived off public transit. There excuse was loooking for alcohol and weapons as they entered the downtown corridor, where the Olypics were being held. I observed and was very disappointed how everyone complied and allowed the police destroy their civil liberties during such an event. However at the same time, the sheeple were not even aware of their rights and just bent over backwards and took it all in. People need to wake up…great article and site by the way!
This is why all thugs that commit any crime using any kind of lethal weapon and also all persons caught carrying more than $50 worth of illegal drugs should be executed by firing squad. Remove the thugs off the street first and after that then the police can relax. We really have 15% of the population that needs to be removed permanently, not allowed to get away with murder molly-cottled by our bleeding heart liberal courts revolving door court system.
Any man who gives up liberties in exchange for security deserves neither.
Thomas Jefferson
“If you’re not doing anything wrong, then you have nothing to worry about.â€
Since I’m not doing anything wrong, there is no reason to perform a search. Go try to justify your existence to a more gullible person.
@Midge
That quote is attributed to Ben Franklin…
see: Title Page of An Historical Review of the Constitution and Government of Pennsylvania. (1759)
Joe Friday….If they did that we wouldn’t have to worry about the cops anymore. Many of them would have to be the first executed.
Lets shoot all the pot smokers and leave the attorneys, judges and other criminals in place. What a great way to move past the corruption. Kill everyone who doesn’t honor the wishes of the corrupted so there is no one left to fight them.
You either have not though about your post or are just plain …..
Hey, Joe Friday, if the failed drug war was ended like any Constitution-shredding boondoggle should be, nobody’s party drug would cost nearly as much as $50, and the cops would be free to hunt down fascists like you.  Freedom haters go elsewhere.Â
Comments…Thank you sketch. I appreciate the correction. Can’t go around putting words in TJ’s mouth. He had enough of his own.
Random searches are a waste of time – nothing much more other than providing justification of the “police state”. Â Sure, I would have let them search my brief case, wallet, pockets, etc., and would have gone on my way. Â Such is merely another cost of living in this “brave, new world”!
When they started their ‘drug wars’, what was it, 3% of people doing ‘illegal’ drugs? Another government sponsored whopping negative success! Why don’t police shut down ‘crack houses’? Why would they? Crack houses are the gateway to the largest prison industry in the world, here in the USA!
Â
Police suffer from ‘Barney Fife syndrome’, with any respect for the policed populace will come nothing but boredom. Typically police work attracts big-time freedom meddlers!