New Yorkers Favor Subway Bag Searches 3-1

A Quinnipiac University poll found New Yorkers favor random searches of packages and backpacks carried by people entering city subways, 72 percent to 25 percent.

According to the Associated Press, while support for the searches was solid among blacks, whites and Hispanics, most of those polled, 55 percent to 38 percent, said government security measures should not violate basic civil rights. The poll did find a divergence of opinion between Democrats and Republicans:

The 255 who considered themselves Republicans were an exception, with 60 percent of them agreeing that the government should take "all steps necessary to prevent additional acts of terrorism in the United States even if it means your basic civil liberties would be violated."

The 854 who consider themselves Democrats were 62 percent to 32 percent against that proposition. Independents also rejected violations of civil liberties, 54-39 percent.

The poll of 1,601 registered voters in New York City was conducted August 9 - 15 of 1,60 and has a margin of error of 2.5 percent for the overall poll, 3.5 percent for the Democratic segment and 6 percent for the Republican segment. Complete poll results are available here.

Over the last month support for the searches has grown from 30 percent to 38 percent. I consider myself to be very supportive of most security measures, but I do not favor these random searches. I believe they do little to deter any attack. Searches based on suspicious behavior would be more effective. I fear all the random searches do is undermine our constitutional right to be secure from unreasonable searches which our founding fathers so wisely secured for us.

It has been a long time since I agreed with the New York Civil Liberties Union ("NYCLU"). But on these random searches I think the NYCLU has it about right:

"This NYPD bag search policy is unprecedented, unlawful and ineffective, said Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the NYCLU. "It is essential that police be aggressive in maintaining security in public transportation. But our very real concerns about terrorism do not justify the NYPD subjecting millions of innocent people to suspicion-less searches in a way that does not identify any person seeking to engage in terrorist activity and is unlikely to have any meaningful deterrent effect on terrorist activity."

In addition to violating the constitutional rights of millions of subway riders, the NYPD policy appears to be ineffective as a security measure. The NYPD is not conducting searches at most subway entrances at any given time, is giving advance notice about searches at those entrances where searches are being conducted, is allowing people selected for a search to walk away, and is not basing the searches on any suspicious activity of individuals. As common sense would suggest, the NYPD's program is virtually certain neither to catch any person trying to carry explosives into the subway system nor to deter such an effort. Indeed, given the way the Department has implemented its search program, the only people being searched are innocent users of the subway system.

[. . .]

"We have no objection to reasonable searches, but we cannot and will not stand by while the police department seeks to expunge the Fourth Amendment from the Constitution with a program that subjects millions of people to suspicion-less searches and that serves virtually no public-safety purpose," said Christopher Dunn, Associate Legal Director of the NYCLU, lead counsel on the case.

Long-established constitutional principles hold that individuals retain the right to move about on our public streets and thoroughfares freely and without police intrusions and that, as a general matter, police officers may not search individuals on our sidewalks and thoroughfares in the absence of individualized suspicion.

The NYCLU has sued New York City in federal court seeking an injunction to halt the random searches. Judge Richard M. Berman has scheduled an evidentiary hearing on the matter for September 7, 2005. No court ruling is expected until later in the month. A copy of the Complaint filed by the NYCLU can be accessed in PDF format here.

Comments

[KipEsquire]

I concur with you and the ACLU. The Fourth Amendment is not subject to majority vote.

I also find it fascinating that the poll question says "all steps necessary" but does not define "additional acts of terrorism."

Here's the poll question I'd love to see:

Do you support raising the transit fare from $2.00 to $10.00, with the additional funds used exclusively to hire more police officers to increase safety and security in the mass transit system?

All this hideous program has done is to prove that New Yorkers would rather feel safe than be safe.

Oh, and you don't need a backpack to bring sarin into the subway, just a pocket.

[scottfromca]

Honey, when I'm performing in New York, I always carry a big purse and the cutie pie cops are free to search my bag anytime they wish!