Originally Posted by
ND Sol
There is a major difference with your analogy. In your analogy, the person is seeing items without the need for an administrative search. For a TSO, the only reason he is seeing the currency, drugs, etc. is because of an exception to the Fourth Amendment.
"Sorry, your logic fails pretty quickly."
Not according to the law it dosent.
But to further the point. An officer is allowed into a home for some reason (nothing specific) and see's 5 pounds or even a single ounce of marijuana sitting on a table. He arrests the homeowner / resident. Has he violated the homeowner / residents constitutional rights? No. Better yet, the officer has a warrent for a search for a stolen car, but when he opens the garage he discovers a meth lab. He arrests the homeowner / resident. Has he violated the homeowner / residents constitutional rights? No.
It does not matter if it is a search, a casual encounter, or an administrative search, they all fall into the plain sight rule, the same thing applies to the administrative search that the TSA performs. If we find it during a legal search then it is fair game.