The stated justification for the searches is extremely alarmist and should worry anyone who cares about Americans' constitutional rights.
"The risk of a terrorist bombing of New York City's subway system is real and substantial," U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman said in a 41-page ruling.Actually, what is truly dangerous is cowering in fear and giving up our constitutional rights. This is how the terroists win. I thought administration officials wanted us to "continue living our normal lives and go shopping." Kowtowing to terrorist scum and giving up our freedoms does nothing to make us safer and only encourages those who wish to change our way of life.
[snip]
"Because the threat of terrorism is great and the consequences of unpreparedness may be catastrophic, it would seem foolish not to rely upon those qualified persons in the best position to know," Berman said.
[snip]
Gail Donoghue, a city lawyer, called the searches a "life and death" necessity and said the city should not wait for a specific threat or an attack to implement security.
"That kind of complacency is a very dangerous thing," she said. "The threat is immediate. It is real and of extreme concern to those who run the counterterrorism in this city."
Now students in NYC will continue to be searched on the way to school, as well as when they get there. Thanks War on Drugs. Thanks War on Terror.
The ACLU plans to appeal the suit, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. In the meantime, let's just hope the practice doesn't spread to other cities in the wake of today's ruling.
Now is as important a time as ever to flex your 4th Amendment rights. Just say "no" to random police searches.
4 comments:
I'd much rather be searched for no reason, than to get on an unsearched subway.
Profiled searches would be preferable, but we know the ACLU would never allow that, they fight all searches, even ones across the board like at Raymond James Stadium. I think its retarded to go about your business oblivious that there is a real danger.
I have yet to trust the U.S. corporate government enough to believe that the phenomenon of "Islamic-extremist" terrorism is truly what it is purported to be. I personally would not use cliche anti-terrorism rhetoric for any purpose– not even to mainstream a good agenda– unless I had proof positive that the terror-scare wasn't YET ANOTHER gross corporate/military/political exploitation of American sheep-like complacency...and I don't have that proof...far from it. I'm left wondering who the real terrorists are...who really sponsored the lightshows on September 11, 2001? Who has the most to gain by instilling fear in our beautiful, diverse, yet poisoned and unjust society? Am I'm alone with my doubts?
All that aside, subway searches, whether random or blatantly fascist, won't stop "terrorism" any more than the PROFILING (interpret that word however you want) of insecure, repressed, priveleged, fear-loving white conservatives that want to "stop the ACLU" would stop widespread racial, cultural, religious, economic or judicial discrimination.
I ride unsearched light-rails to work on rainy days, and I truly enjoy not having my body coercively searched. If I don't ride, I walk a couple miles, gloriously unmolested. It makes for a day that is much different from being in prison or under martial law. I wouldn't want to give up that freedom for anything– not even for the juiciest, most self-indulgent, exploitative, profitable fear-mongering in the world. I guess different people have different priorities.
Hey Jay777, that sure is easy to say when you are a white dude named Jay. Try being an American kid with an arabic name going through Israeli security. When the dude with the machine gun asks you to take off your pants for the second time in 15 minutes, you will know what it feels like to be "profiled."
Stop the ACLU my ass. Like searching one out of every few hundred people will do any good aside from giving you that warm fuzzy feeling. Thank God I have the Constitution to protect myself from people like you.
"Those who desire security more than freedom deserve neither."
"I walk a couple miles, gloriously unmolested. It makes for a day that is much different from being in prison or under martial law. I wouldn't want to give up that freedom for anything– not even for the juiciest, most self-indulgent, exploitative, profitable fear-mongering in the world. I guess different people have different priorities."
kris;
When I saw the 2 towers go down on 9-11, I cried, not just because of the people who died a terrible death, but because of the death of our treasured liberties that I saw on the horizon. I knew that the politicians would take 9-11 and run with it, to the extent that it has been carried today. I applaud your attitude and share your opinion. The world is not a safe place and no amount of nanny state coercion will make it any safer.
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