Originally Posted by
T.J. Bender
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At the federal courthouse in Denver, however, they have a MMW machine (supposedly without ATR), and refusing to go through it results in either a pat-down so thorough that it makes the TSA's seem light or denial of entry. A neighbor of mine claims that he was summoned to jury duty in the federal court in Denver and refused to go through the MMW or submit to a pat-down. As he tells the story, the judge was notified and sent word down that if he didn't complete screening and enter the courthouse for his summons, he would be brought through forcibly to stand trial for contempt. Give that story as much credence as you choose to--I find it a little fishy.
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I'd be very interested if there is any high level precedent on cases such s this. All of the "administrative search" cases for airports seem to rest in part on the fact that individuals who don't want to be searched can simply walk away. The jury duty scenario involves someone who cannot legally walk away. Here we have a person who is summoned to court, without cause to believe he has committed a crime warranting a search, and not having consented to a search. Is the federal court violating his 4th amendment rights? If not, why not?