As I've written before, I think the other aspect of this is the "in plain sight" adaptation of the 4th Amendment. I know this applies during sobriety checkpoints -- that's why the cops are so zealous about looking into your vehicle with flashlights (along with the alcohol sensors covertly placed on the flashlights). You're toast if they find a joint in plain sight on the back seat, but they can't open your glove box or trunk and find a joint unless you're dumb enough to give them permission. So, this raises the question: Was Dionne Warwick's joints inside a lipstick case "in plain sight?" ...wish she had challenged this in court...
At military bases (of which I am VERY familiar), there are signs at the entrances stating that, by entering, all your property and your person are subject to search.
If the TSA has also taken up the War on Drugs, why don't they simply put up signs similar to those at bases at all checkpoints? If non-security "discoveries" found during searches are fair game, why not simply say so? In the internal staffing process, I assume the TSA General Counsel would get a vote on the wording...
Even during pre-TSA days, I recall that law enforcement authorities viewed airports as convenient chokepoints to catch a suspected bad guy or two. The TSA (corporately and individually) has apparently assumed the authority to become "deputized" because "We, the People" have allowed them to. Shame on us.
I know I've written about the slippery slope before, so I'll end briefly. What's preventing the TSA from stopping at drugs and large amounts of cash? It doesn't take too much of a crystal ball to image the following --
1. Checking all our credit cards to make sure they aren't stolen;
2. Checking all our cash to make sure it's not counterfeit;
3. Checking all our CD's, floppies, and hard drives to make sure they don't contain bootleg software and/or downloaded music;
4. Better check my reading material to make sure it doesn't violate the "local community decency standards"; and,
5. Why not enforce state and local licquor laws why we're at it?
6. And, while you're sniffing my Nike's, better make sure they aren't counterfeit as well...