home

Subway Search Trial Underway

By TChris, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Mon Oct 31, 2005 at 07:55:00 AM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

by TChris

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman in Manhattan will begin hearing evidence today in a challenge to New York City’s random search of bags carried by subway riders.

The New York Civil Liberties Union, which brought the lawsuit on behalf of several subway riders, said in court papers filed last week that its own survey from Aug. 25 to Sept. 16 of 5,500 subway turnstile entrances found a total of 34 searches underway. It said the search program in the 468 subway stations serving 26 train lines "has no meaningful value in preventing the entry of explosive devices into the system by the terrorists the NYPD is attempting to thwart."

The City counters that random searches deter terrorism because a terrorist will never know whether he’ll be searched. The risk of being searched is so low, however, that only the most timid of terrorists would worry about detection. Balanced against their negligible benefit, the random search of bags carried by individuals who have done nothing to raise a suspicion of wrongdoing is an unnecessary offense to the privacy of passengers.

< And the War Goes On | Time For Cheney to Come Clean >

  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


    • Display: Sort:
    Subway Search Trial Underway | 9 comments (9 topical)
    Re: Subway Search Trial Underway (none / 0) (#1)
    by Dadler on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:35 PM EST
    So they blow themselves up while getting checked. What's the difference? This is the most childish illusion of security.

    Re: Subway Search Trial Underway (none / 0) (#2)
    by Lww on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:35 PM EST
    You can board a subway car at 3AM and ride it until rush hour. It's gravy for the cops while giving a false sense of security to the riders. Whether it should be stopped I don't know.

    Re: Subway Search Trial Underway (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:35 PM EST
    "It's gravy for the cops while giving a false sense of security to the riders." There is no evidence that riders appreciate the searches, or are fooled into thinking they are anything but hype. As for the cops, it is highly likely that they would rather be doing policework.

    Re: Subway Search Trial Underway (none / 0) (#4)
    by Lww on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:36 PM EST
    What a cheap response. My brothers the NY cops told me it was so, I'll take their word on it over you in LA. This is overtime, which is greatly appreciated by underpaid munincipal workers in NY. They're not high-priced attorneys you know....

    Re: Subway Search Trial Underway (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:36 PM EST
    Your brothers in the NYPD told you that it was gravy? How honest of them. Have they considered a career in law enforcement, instead of living on overtime dole? Real rescue workers were INFURIATED at HalliFema's non-response. The pay wasn't the issue. Now listen to LWW tell of cops who look at their paycheck before they look at the effectiveness of their work. Not the right stuff. No wonder they hated Serpico.

    Re: Subway Search Trial Underway (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:37 PM EST
    City lawyers have noted that an al-Qaida training manual advising terrorists to avoid police checkpoints gives the city some justification for its random searches of bags entering the subway system.. That sez it all right there. However, I will agree that random searches of anyone other than middle eastern men is quite futile.

    Re: Subway Search Trial Underway (none / 0) (#7)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:37 PM EST
    BB-the al-Qaida training manual is a translation of the CIA manual. Remember, we trained them. BYW-Your selective quote is absurd. It is like saying to a robber that s/he should avoid police checkpoints when s/he is loaded with loot. Duh...

    Re: Subway Search Trial Underway (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:37 PM EST
    squeaky... BB-the al-Qaida training manual is a translation of the CIA manual. Remember, we trained them. I beg to differ... I've read both...they're not even close! The FBI book says nothing about killing infidels and taking over the world! Your selective quote is absurd. It is like saying to a robber that s/he should avoid police checkpoints when s/he is loaded with loot. Do you actually read? I said nothing of the sort! My quote was about random searches...not at "checkpoints".. Duh is right!

    Re: Subway Search Trial Underway (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:05:38 PM EST
    Posted by BB: "I will agree that random searches of anyone other than middle eastern men is quite futile." That's hilarious, and evidence of your racism. In 2003, the FBI busted a white supremacist terrorist group in Texas. Contained in their warehouse were HUNDREDS of suitcase bombs, ready to go. There have been SIXTY major terrorist plots by WHITE SUPREMACISTS in the last ten years. That's six a year. How many Arab plots? About two in fifteen years. White supremacists REMAIN the gravest terrorist threat facing the US today. Internal enemies, surprise surprise, are far more dangerous to us than external enemies. How striking it is that the rightwing is incapable of recognizing internal enemies when they support them.

    Subway Search Trial Underway | 9 comments (9 topical)