Spend $16.99 so you can wear this to your grave
Posted on 07/22/2005 11:06:07 AM PDT by BigFinn
Reacting to the NYPD's announcement Thursday afternoon that police would randomly—but routinely—search the bags of commuters, one concerned New Yorker quickly created a way for civil libertarians to make their views black-and-white. In a few outraged moments, local immigrant rights activist Tony Lu designed t-shirts bearing the text, "i do not consent to being searched." The minimalist protest-wear can be purchased here, in various styles and sizes. (Lu will not get a cut. The shirts' manufacture, sale, and shipment, will be handled by the online retailer. Lu encourages budget-conscious New Yorkers to make their own and wear them everywhere.)
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly had announced the legally obvious—that New Yorkers are free to decline a search and "turn around and leave." But Lu, who is a lawyer at Urban Justice Center, warned that even well-intentioned cops could interpret people's natural nervousness or anger as "reasonable suspicion." The possibility of unjustified interrogation and even arrest is real, Lu said.
Although police promised they would not engage in racial profiling, Lu said that, as with all street-level policing, people of color and poor immigrants would be particularly vulnerable, especially if encounters lead to arrests.
Amen. This is especially stupid considering the fact that the cops won't be profiling or picking out suspiciously looking people and packages. They'll be doing just like at the airports--every 10th or 20th or nth person regardless of the absurdity. Useless placating.
I skedaddled out to Westchester to live 10 years ago.
Say no more, indeed!
How about we just do away with the Fourth Amendment everywhere?
Let the police just enter people's home and search for illegal MP3's. That'll stop illegal downloads. Maybe they'll also find a terrorist or two listening to a bootleg of Desert Rose.
Wonder what will happen when an "I Do Not Consent to Being Searched" tee-shirt meets up with a "Club Gitmo" tee-shirt?? Get ready to ))))R-U-M-B-L-E((((!!!!
If FDR had ever stood up in 1943 and called Nazism a "religion of peace," he would have been tossed into the Potomac River with his @ss chained to his freakin' wheelchair.
Fourteenth Amendment
Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United S tates; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
So typical of nutty urban leftists to complain about a momentary inconvenience but also give nearly unanimous support to forced disarmament of law-abiding citizens.
In NYC its not, in Long Island, its a different story.
LI cops are paid very well.
You just keeping baah-baaahing away.
In case you didn't realize it, this a forum dedicated to smaller, less intrusive Govt. Ya know - like conservatism.
Indeed, what exactly are they protecting anymore? Our borders are wide open, our every move is scrutinized, the "freedom and liberty" thing is pretty much extinct on the entire globe at this point.
"Stop quoting the Bill of Rights you pinko commie!"
Sorry. : )
With all due respect, your comment is both ugly and stupid.
We probably agree a lot on free (unfair) trade, too.
Hey, I watch COPS.
They get to drive like mad, shoot guns, and beat people up. AND they get paid. How cool is that?
However, I believe that this type of search does not violate the Fifth Amendment. Here's why: The police are not stopping people on the street and randomly searching them. The city is saying that as a condition of riding the subway, you might be subject to a bag search. If someone doesn't consent to the search, they are free to do two things: leave their bag at home, or not ride the subway. That is not a violation of the Constitution.
Unfortunatly you have nailed a principle reason for not profiling. What is needed is for a change of fashion. Only tight fitting clothes (men and women) and no bags, or purses, unless small and transparant.
The other solution is to get lots of those low power xrays and scan everyone. (Shoot to kill when a bomb is discovered.) And fortet the so called privacy issue, people will be more modestly covered than in a doctor's office, and the scan will not take permanent photos. BTW, keep these scans secret and the location of the scanners secret. Deploy them with the troops as well as any crowded likely terrorist spot. The terrorists will start turning up dead and no one will know why.
Red Rover are you typing from russia or china??
Did we demand armed cops at all night clubs in the U.S. because of what happened in Bali?
Ramzi Yousef's "contact lens cleaner" bombs made it past airport security just fine.
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