Leave your crack at home if riding the T

by philg

Starting in July police will begin searching subway riders at random in Boston, according to this article.  I’ve always like the T because it is one of the few dog-friendly mass transit systems in the U.S.  Probably best to leave at home anything that you don’t want the police to find, however.  It isn’t clear how effective this is going to be as a security measure.  Just as we often see airport security folks taking apart 85-year-old grandmothers the Boston police say “the planned searches will randomly pick out riders and are not aimed at singling out anyone”.

11 thoughts on “Leave your crack at home if riding the T”

  1. Now that it isn’t freezing out, I’m sure you’ve noticed that virtually every passerby feels it his duty to conduct a random search of Alex’s soft white fur.

  2. I just copied this right out of the U.S. constipation, two down from my favorite:

    “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. ”

    So this means that the police will have warrants, right? How do they get around this in any other case given that the subway is very clearly public property (in the same way that airports are by a prior Supreme Court ruling)?

  3. I’m sure some “revisionist historians” might try to deny it, but the US Constitution was written before we were attacked by Islamic terrorist on 9/11. As Mr Greenspun says, it’s pointless to rough up 85-year-old Grandmas just to avoid offending the delicate sensibilities of members of suspicious ethnic and racial groups.

  5. NYC transit police are already enforcing the ban on photography, before the regulation takes effect officially.

  6. NYC transit police are already enforcing the ban on photography, before the regulation takes effect officially.

  8. “the US Constitution was written before we were attacked by Islamic terrorist on 9/11”

    But it hasn’t been amended by the US legislature since that date, and that’s the only process that would invalidate any of it as it stands. So it stands.

  9. 85-year-old grandmothers aside, random searches may be more effective than certain kinds of targeted searches. If you know what the profile is, you can use someone that doesn’t match the profile. See http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/student-papers/spring02-papers/caps.htm

    They probably aren’t technically “searching”, this is “just” a “stop and frisk”. See http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/405/405lect04.htm, scroll all the way down to the bottom. However, I don’t think this can be used to justify random searches, note the “reasonable suspicion” argument.

    Would it be different if, instead of actually patting you down, they simply had you walk by a couple of police dogs? (To find drugs.) Through a metal detector? (Weapons.)

    I’m no legal scholar, but in my opinion, the Court is skidding down a steep slope at a pretty high rate of speed…

  10. BTW, the Constitution isn’t amended by the US legislature. Amendments are proposed by Congress or by a Convention, and are then ratified by the States.

  11. The government has been slowly eroding our rights for years, so this new glitch isnt a surprize..if it is for anyone, they have been under a rock for 30 years. I love the newest one in my town,they stop people just to make sure they have a drivers license. AND THEY DO IT AT 6AM IN THE FRIGGIN MORNING!By all means, catch those poor bastards trying to earn a living, its not the crackheads driving around at 6am for gods sake! I am not supporting unlicensed drivers mind you. I am just appalled that my local government can pull this and many other stunts all in the name of “protecting us from ourselves”.

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