Originally Posted by
FlyingUnderTheRadar
The question is moot as all of that applies to a criminal search. Go back to the basics: administrative search.
The above is not to say aspects of a criminal search do not come into play but one needs to ask the right questions otherwise it is a moot exercise.
It boils down to a criminal search. The TSA is being used as an extension of law enforcement officers to conduct searches beyond their mandate. When TSA searches for drugs, fake ID's, cash, and anything other than weapons, explosives and incendiaries, it becomes a criminal search.
Lets call it what it is. When a TSA clerk asks you about the cash you are carrying, it has nothing to do with security, it is a fishing expedition that may lead to criminal charges. When TSA suspects you have illegal drugs, and conducts further searches to verify that in fact you do have illegal drugs, than that to me is a criminal search.
The TSA can conduct these searches with immunity as they are not LEO's and are not bound by laws that are in place for criminal searches. So the TSA has the power to conduct criminal searches right up to the point where they call a LEO to make the arrest.