Originally Posted by
hiltonhead
It was not my intent to make any cases, and I apologize if it was conceived as such. I believe I offered that any lawyer worth his weight in horse manure would beat such a case. I just presented true world reality...take from it what you will. I do not have a dog in the fight and was only trying to answer some questions. The legal definitions and explanations of authority are accurate. As there are a million different scenerio's upon which they may apply, I can not be held accountable for each and every one.
I appreciated your post. More so, I appreciate that there's much the judiciary -- at least at the intermediate levels -- won't tolerate.
Originally Posted by se94583
Your right to refuse a search ends at the entrance to the sterile area. You may refuse, and just simply leave. Consent, and the ball is in their court.
The nature (and extent) of the search may have a role to play when consent is not given.
Originally Posted by se94583
The murkier issue is what happens if, after passing through security, you are asked for yet another screening.
I would suspect that "reasonable suspicion" (once inside the promised land) would allow a LEO to question you, at least. If you refuse, or if your answers don't line up, that may morph into the requisite "probable cause" for a further search (relying on the diminished expectation of privacy at airports and border crossings), arrest, or escort to the exits.
I'd be careful not to lump airports into the same category as border crossings when it comes to searches. DHS and the FBI has received plenty of legal advice in this area and have been focusing on questioning and searches -- including of Americans -- at ports of entry (or abroad) rather than at airports in general because of concerns that their discoveries would be tossed. (The general public backlash is not their primary concern.) The legal concerns within the government have been substantial enough that the FBI has baited people to go abroad so that upon the return (or prior to their return) they can be questioned and searched in a way that would not be permitted within the US even airside at a domestic airport.