Originally Posted by
vassilipan
What TSA hangs their hat on is the ability to conduct administrative searches, which fall outside the search warrant requirements of the 4th Amendment.
Being picked out by a SPOTnik should simply mean the ensuing administrative search will be more thorough than would otherwise be the case (a "secondary").
Two issues I'm not sure of:
- can the passenger leave the lineup, assuming it's prior to the checkpoint ?
- does the passenger have to submit to any additional search
after clearing the checkpoint ?
I suspect the answers currently are no and yes; and it would take a court challenge to determine the legality or otherwise. Which, as I posted elsewhere, is most unlikely to happen any time soon.