Originally Posted by bocastephen
My contention is the law is flawed and unconstitutional. It should be stricken from the books. This whole case is flawed because the search which found the cash should not be permitted as criminal evidence when outside the scope of the TSA whose sole job is the search for prohibited items
I'll concede your argument that carrying a large sum of money should not, in itself, be interpreted as an indicator of criminal intent. But telling the TSA to ignore else anything they find while searching for prohibited items is nonsense. It's called "plain view doctrine." If a government agent (need not be an LEO) sees evidence of a crime while they are in a place they have a right to be, and looking for something they are authorized to look for, it's fair game. If the TSA opens your suitcase looking for a prohibited item, and instead finds a baggie of marijuana, it's your bad. By the way, nearly the same doctrine applies if I (as a private citizen) see you drop, say, a vial of cocaine into your bag just before you check it. There's nothing preventing me from walking up to the nearest airport cop and telling him what I saw. Given the exigent circumstances of your being in transit at that moment, he can probably make the search right then based on probable cause. He could certainly seize the suitcase and have me be the affiant for a search warrant.
My advice: leave your contraband at home when you travel. Better yet, don't have any at all. If the cops arrived at my door today with a search warrant for my house, I'd go watch TV while they executed the warrant. I already know what they're not going to find.