The ACLU has a website called www.nosubwaysearches.org where they further degrade the ability of our police etc. to keep us safe.
They have a bag search survey too. Maybe some clearheaded New Yorkers ought to fill it out and set them straight.
They make a huge deal of how this is anti Constitutional, i.e. ""the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects."
I wonder how they reconcile that with the efforts of the liberal media and the Senate lefties to dissect Judge Roberts' life, and that of his wife and children?
I was just reading in the current News India-Times about some British Sikh tourists that were detained after a bus driver alerted the police. Bloomberg apologized after they were cleared, but here is the kicker: the tourists were not insulted or upset in any way! One was quoted: "These things happen, don't they? We have no hard feelings. It certainly made our trip different, but didn't ruin it at all."
I guess the reporter got to them before the ACLU did! Seriously though, if these people aren't upset by it, why is the ACLU (yes, that is really a rhetorical question!)?
Nosubwaysearches.org has a prewritten letter you can send to the Mayor and Chief of Police.
I encourage you to use it, with a few modifications...
For instance:
The New York Police Department's new policy of random searches is pro-American and an effective affirmation of my Constitutional rights. We hired you to protect us, and efforts to put roadblocks in your way is the really unpatriotic thing. The Fourth Amendment clearly protects "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects." In other words, I - and all New Yorkers - have the right NOT to be searched without reason. This guarantee has served us well for over 200 years, but we didn't have terrorist murderers 200 years ago. In this case though, there is a perfectly good reason to do these searches. If I have some reason that I object to being searched, I can drive, walk or take a taxi. There is no right to access to the transit system. It is a service and we are subject to the rules. Since I have nothing to hide, and value my life more than an official's glance at my belongings, I fully support the new policy of random searches, particularly in light of the events in London.
New Yorkers know all too well the horror of terrorism. But we also know that random searches will help make our subways and transit system safer. We know that we are not surrendering our basic rights by voluntarily submitting our belongings for inspection. Ignoring the potential for terrorist attacks similar to those in London will make us weaker, not stronger, as a nation, and subject us to eventual terrorism. Anything that makes it harder for the terrorists to commit their crimes is fine with me.
We live in New York City, not East Berlin or Pyongyang, where the ACLU and their ilk would not even be able to assemble, never mind harrass the police trying to do their jobs. New Yorkers should support this insignificant search in the interests of safety. I believe that every one of the 50+ people that died on 7/7 in London would have preferred searches to dying as they did.
- The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that random searches are unconstitutional. Of course, the Supreme Court once thought slavery was perfectly acceptable. They also think that a municipality should be able to seize your property for reasons of increasing tax revenue. The Supreme Court is not perfect.
- It is ineffective: even security experts say it won't increase safety, because leftist groups like the ACLU won't let you do proper and effective searches.
- It has already led to long overdue safety procedures, including subway riders being forced to show an ID just to board the train. What next? Having to show an ID to exercise my Second Amendment rights as spelled out in the Constitution (Oh, wait a minute, I have to do that already!)?
- And even members of the NYPD have said that it will lead to racial profiling, one of the necessary tools for narrowing searches to the people prone to commit acts of terrorism, and would free others from unnecessary searches.
As a New Yorker, I call on you to continue and expand the new random search policy. There is no better way to keep us safe, and preserve our liberties.
After all, if we willingly walk away from the ideals that have made us great as a nation, like the Bill of Rights, the Ten Commandments and Christmas, what do we have left?