Sweet, Sweet Justice.

Okay, there's a lot of talk about Justice Sweet's recent decision that NY Cops can't search bags and backpacks at the upcoming Republican convention in NYC. Now, I personally don't know any terrorists, but given my experience with (relatively mild) fundamentalists, I probably wouldn't care for them, and I'm sure I don't want things to go easier for them. (I am not a fan of terrorists!) Having said that, this is a pretty old rule in our criminal justice system, that you can't search a closed container without a warrant (under Chadwick). They can do a pat down for weapons on reasonable suspicion (a Terry stop), they can SIEZE a container, but they can't open it without a warrant, without probably some specific articulable facts that lead them to believe that there's a crime going on, and then the search isn't UNREASONABLE, which is what the fourth amendment protects us from - UNREASONABLE search and seizure.

Now, some people may say that people who carry large backpacks and bulky packages around should expect to be searched, or that searching them in the current world climate is not unreasonable. I don't agree, I think it's a slippery slope. Having said that, the fact of the matter is, the cops CAN do anything they want to. They may not have permission, but do you really think that if they see someone they perceive as Middle Eastern looking or acting nervous while clutching a bulky package or backpack, that a little due process is going to get in their way? In New York?

I guess my bottom line is, this isn't the horrifyingly controversial ruling some are trying to make it out to be. It's the continuation of an established principle in our jurisprudence, and I don't think it's going to be a real impediment to protection. And let me remind you, IANAL, yet.