Originally Posted by
polonius
Wrong. I already tested that and proved it is not so. If you are trying to depart, they can give you the DY...T? routine. If you have arrived, all you need to do is refuse the search and there is nothing they can do. You most certainly DO have an alternative, and had I been in Savannah, that's the option I would have taken.
In this particular case, you had a mother with two boys, aged maybe 9 and 11. She really was not in any position to defy the pretense of authority. The situation must have been extremely intimidating and she would have felt she had no choice but to comply. I'm sure her main goal was to get out of that station with her boys.