NYers to NYPD: 'I Do Not Consent to Being Searched'

The Village Voice ^ | July 21st, 200 | by Chisun Lee

[Sandy]

Do you really thing that randomly searching (or even selectively searching based upon profiles) a couple thousand people a day is going to discourage a person from blowing up atrain or bus if that is their mission? Get real.

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.

[RedRover]

I skedaddled out to Westchester to live 10 years ago.
Say no more, indeed!

[Sabramerican]

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.

[Polyxene]

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((((!!!!

[Alberta's Child]

I can just imagine the belly moaning that would go on today if the same sacrifices ask of civilians during WWII were ask today.

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.

[AdamSelene235]

I'm pretty sure there's no right to ride public transportation in the contitution, since public transportation didn't exist back then.

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.

[Trailerpark Badass]

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.

[Sonny M]

And yes, money is not the motivation for becoming a cop.

In NYC its not, in Long Island, its a different story.

LI cops are paid very well.

[gdani]

Take your "sheeple" crap to the DU

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.

[Stu Cohen]

I applaud their willingness to sacrifice in order to protect our shores, but at some point, the balance tips, and what we've got isn't worth protecting anymore

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.

[Busywhiskers]

"Stop quoting the Bill of Rights you pinko commie!"

Sorry. : )

[RedRover]

With all due respect, your comment is both ugly and stupid.

[af_vet_rr]

Scary thinking there my friend.

More like terrifying. I expect the left to worship the government, and allow them to do whatever, but to think that some people who call themselves 'conservative' don't have a problem with something simply because they have nothing to hide...we've come along way since the 1770s.

I'm thinking most of the "if you have nothing to hide, why the worry" crowd have never had the chance to see what kind of society that thinking leads to.

I had the chance to see parts of Eastern Europe before 1990/1991. Those governments were big proponenets of the "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about" train of thought, and yet the people were still scared of the governments...

[Alberta's Child]

We probably agree a lot on free (unfair) trade, too.

[xsrdx]

And yes, money is not the motivation for becoming a cop

Hey, I watch COPS.

They get to drive like mad, shoot guns, and beat people up. AND they get paid. How cool is that?

[SALChamps03]

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.

[KC_for_Freedom]

You people aren't thinking. Picture a cop, faced with a 'suspicious' looking Middle Easterner. If he stops him and he's clean, the cop faces a complaint; if he isn't clean, he explodes.

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.

[superiorslots]

Red Rover are you typing from russia or china??

[gdani]

This is common sense for subway riders, given the recent events in London.

Did we demand armed cops at all night clubs in the U.S. because of what happened in Bali?

[AdamSelene235]

They were carrying box cutters not bombs..

Ramzi Yousef's "contact lens cleaner" bombs made it past airport security just fine.