Originally Posted by brp
First or al, I'll say that I don't like the TSA random searches either. I don't think they accomplish anything, and they are truly annoying. But it isn't as if we are walking down the streets being randomly searched. We are undertaking a voluntayr activiy- flying- and the authorities believe (right or wrong) that the searches are warranted. We can choose not to fly, and we will not be subject to these searches. We fly knowing that this can happen. Again, I don't like them, but I don't see a fourth amendment violation.
At the concerts, we search people. They enter knowing that they will be searched. They are able to refuse the search, be denied entrance, and receive a refund of their money. Since I've seen what happens when an item is not found, perhaps I'm more sensitive to "better safe than sorry" than some here.
You repeat the often-repeated line that "flying is voluntary." Uh-huh. So is EVERY appearance in public, by you or anyone else.
You don't
have to drive to work, so routinely stopping and searching you and your vehicle, even without probable cause should be all right with you. After all, it was your choice to drive to work, right?
In fact, you don't actually
have to drive anywhere, do you? You could choose to stay home.
You don't actually
have to walk down the sidewalk (you could have just stayed indoors), so routinely stopping and searching you as you walk down the street should be ok also, right?
You don't have to go anywhere, right? Each and every appearance by you outside your home is voluntary, right? So it would be ok with you if you were stopped and searched each time you opened your front door, right?
Since you don't actually
have to have a home, why not allow it to be searched without probable cause? After all, establishing a home was a voluntary act by you.
At the concerts where you make money by searching people (no wonder you don't mind searches), are you employed by the government? If not, then your searches are ok, since they don't implicate any Fourth Amendment issues.