Ienan wrote:
It has nothing to with being forced. The government has no right to search or seizure without probable cause... period. The TSA is a part of the government. Just because they do it when you enter a courthouse doesn't make it less unconstitutional.
This is not true.
Under defeinition of a searchQuote:
In Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967), the Supreme Court ruled that a search occurs only when 1) a person expects privacy in the thing searched and 2) society believes that expectation is reasonable.
Quote:
Under Terry v. Ohio 392 U.S. 1 (1968), law enforcement officers are permitted to conduct a limited warrantless search on a level of suspicion less than probable cause under certain circumstances. In Terry, the Supreme Court ruled that when a police officer witnesses "unusual conduct" that leads that officer to reasonably believe "that criminal activity may be afoot", that the suspicious person has a weapon and that the person is presently dangerous to the officer or others, the officer may conduct a "pat-down search" (or "frisk") to determine whether the person is carrying a weapon. To conduct a frisk, officers must be able to point to specific and articulatory facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant their actions. A vague hunch will not do. Such a search must be temporary and questioning must be limited to the purpose of the stop (i.e., officers who stop a person because they have reasonable suspicion to believe that the person was driving a stolen car, cannot, after confirming that it is not stolen, compel the person to answer questions about anything else, such as the possession of contraband).
It is not "period" at all. There is nothing unreasonable at all about searched prior to entering government property. It is not unconstitutional at all to search you prior to entering a courthouse or any other government facility.
Note that this is not the same as a public facility, such as the roads example Lex provided or a park; these are public property maintained by the government, not government property owned by the government for the conduct of government business.
As to the airports, there is nothing wrong with requiring some level of security before you go on an airplane. However I believe that body scanners go beyond the level of "reasonable" much like sticking your hand inside someone's pocket in a Terry stop is going beyond what is reasonable. You don't need to stick your hand in the pocket unless you feel something during the patdown that feels like a weapon. Similarly, there is no need to full-body-scan or pat down people at the airport unless less intrusive meausures have been used and given some
specific, articulable reason for more intrusive measures.
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