Correct. It is not necessary to limit the authority of a private citizen over me because a private citizen has no authority over me to begin with.
The Fourth Amendment states that the government may not conduct unreasonable searches and seizures, but says nothing of private citizens or corporate entities. In fact, the 10th amendment says that any right *not* mentioned is reserved for the states and the poeple, respectively. Therefore, odd as it sounds, the right to conduct an "unreasonable" search is restricted from the government but reserved for the people.
You might want to rethink your reasoning here. As I stated above, the Constitution doesn't need to limit the right of a private citizen/corporation to conduct unreasonable searches and seizures because they were never considered to have any such authority to begin with. You have no right to interfere with the exercise of my freedom of speech (though you are under no obligation to provide a forum for my speech, which is why FR can remove my posts if they wish) or my right to keep and bear arms, even though the Constitution does not apply to you. Likewise, you have no right to conduct any searches or seizures of my person or property.
The store has a reasonable expectation that x percentage of their customers will steal from them. Since they have no way of knowing *which* of their customers comprise that x percent, it's reasonable that they take a simple measure such as checking your bag against your receipt to protect themselves against such loss.
If a store wishes to post a notice stating that my bag may be searched upon leaving the store, then I implicitly give my consent to be searched by shopping there. They are under no obligation to do business with me if I do not wish to be searched. If, however, they do not post such a notice (or inform me in some manner before I make my purchase), then they are dependent on my giving explicit consent when I leave the store to be searched. Failing to secure my consent, they have no right to search me.
That being said, I don't see the big deal in letting them look through my bag. I don't think I'd worry about it, so long as they asked to.
Well written facts on constitutional law..
Thanks.
In the general public, you're correct. You have no rights over me, nor I over you. In my original post, I failed to qualify my answer - my rights extend to the limits of my property. I have *every* right to impinge upon your right to free speech in my home - I can tell you to shut up or leave. Although it gets a little fuzzier in practice, in theory, I have the right to search you without probable cause if you're on my property.
In the public forum, however, you're completely correct.