"Random" Searches in the New York City Subways
While I hate to distract from the confirmation hubhub, I thought I'd see what people think about the NYPD's new policy of searching subway riders absent individualized suspicion.
The NYPD has begun searching straphangers' bags without any specific basis for believing them to be terrorists. The policy combines random checks (e.g., every tenth rider) with checks of those who are actually suspicuous (e.g., a bag with protruding wires and an accompanying ticking noise).
Naturally, I'm against the policy. It smacks of selling our rights for the illusion of safety. [Insert your favorite Ben Frankin quotation here.] Of course the NYPD defends the policy on the usual grounds: "The public understands we live in changed times," said the Commissioner.
So the age-old question returns. How much liberty are we surrendering, and for what benefit? The liberty interest seems pretty big to me. For many New Yorkers, the subway is the only way to get to and from work. It's the only practical way to visit much of the city. Therefore, anyone who cannot afford regular taxi fare now implicitly has no right to be free of searches of his person and effects.
The benefit is close to zero. Yes, we may deter a would-be subway bomber. But he can always blow up a nearby Starbucks and kill just as many people. It's like "the Club," which does not deter car theft but merely moves it from Clubbed cars to others. (And a murderer can of course blow up the checkpoint itself, like people do in Iraq and Israel, thereby turning a safety device into a death trap.)
The NYCLU has said it will likely sue. I think it should win.
P.S. Another interesting case is the right to travel anonymously on airplanes. See more here about a case in the Northern District of California challenging FAA requirements that air travellers show ID.
The NYPD has begun searching straphangers' bags without any specific basis for believing them to be terrorists. The policy combines random checks (e.g., every tenth rider) with checks of those who are actually suspicuous (e.g., a bag with protruding wires and an accompanying ticking noise).
Naturally, I'm against the policy. It smacks of selling our rights for the illusion of safety. [Insert your favorite Ben Frankin quotation here.] Of course the NYPD defends the policy on the usual grounds: "The public understands we live in changed times," said the Commissioner.
So the age-old question returns. How much liberty are we surrendering, and for what benefit? The liberty interest seems pretty big to me. For many New Yorkers, the subway is the only way to get to and from work. It's the only practical way to visit much of the city. Therefore, anyone who cannot afford regular taxi fare now implicitly has no right to be free of searches of his person and effects.
The benefit is close to zero. Yes, we may deter a would-be subway bomber. But he can always blow up a nearby Starbucks and kill just as many people. It's like "the Club," which does not deter car theft but merely moves it from Clubbed cars to others. (And a murderer can of course blow up the checkpoint itself, like people do in Iraq and Israel, thereby turning a safety device into a death trap.)
The NYCLU has said it will likely sue. I think it should win.
P.S. Another interesting case is the right to travel anonymously on airplanes. See more here about a case in the Northern District of California challenging FAA requirements that air travellers show ID.
posted by Anonymous at 4:24 PM
2 Comments:
The "right to travel anonymously on airplanes" strikes me as deeply silly. One can claim a taxpayer's right to travel on a road or in a publicly-funded subway, perhaps, but even then certain regulations apply. Many more now to the NY subway, in fact, including the lost "right" to bring open containers of food and drink. If you need to travel around the country and don't wish to be identified, you can use a car. (Unless you're going to Hawaii, I suppose.) Or you can fly your own plane. Even without the FAA regulation, commercial airlines most likely would continue to ID passengers just b/c that's become the safety norm now and the anonymous traveler airline would become identified as Air Terrorism.
There is nothing unconstitutional about randomly checking bags of people who are riding to the subway. Yes, it is an intrusion on your daily life, but I cannot see how it intrudes on your constitutional rights.
Nobody is forced to ride the subway. If you are riding it, and forced to stop for a few minutes, it is an inconvenience, but it's not depriving you of constitutional rights. You might be annoyed by someone peering into your bag. If you are, don't bring the bag with you, or if you have to, don't bring anything you don't want anybody to see.
Post a Comment
<< Home