Privacy and Subway Searches

In comments to my Links and Minifeatures yesterday

...my argument is not rooted in a "right to privacy", rather it is rooted in the combination of the unreasonable search and seizure, lack of a warrant and complete ineffectiveness of the strategy. By the way, my opinion is the same with regard to any other public facility. The same goes for the searches prior to entering an airport terminal. IF it was not mandated by the government and was, instead, a requirement of the airline, it would be different. It would be voluntary and a private contract between customer and airline.

The "unreasonable search and seizure" is rooted, albeit not explicitly, in privacy, as is lack of a warrant. The complete ineffectiveness of the strategy as enacted is a separate issue. That the strategy is an ineffective token, and as such, basically an excuse to hassle your average citizen is a valid reason to oppose it. That it is unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment, or as a violation of privacy, is incorrect and at best an easy excuse to harrass the government. My right not to be killed or wounded in a public conveyance trumps your right to keep explosives in your backpack, or to keep items of whatever nature private in your backpack, and one has no reasonable expectation of privacy in a public conveyance.



The problem is that opposing it on grounds of being ineffective harrassment is legally difficult at best, and while I'm no lawyer, I believe precedents are few on the ground and go mostly the other way (Just because it's not perfect doesn't mean you can't do anything). Fourth Amendment is legally easy and you might just win via judicial fiat. Harder but the correct response would be to get the public on board for a campaign to either get rid of it or make it effective. But that's not in the ACLU playbook anymore, and not in accordance with their not-so-hidden agenda.