NYCLU sues city over subway searches

NYNewsday ^ | August 4, 2005 | Joshua Robin and Dan Janison

[bobsunshine]

The New York Civil Liberties Union will file suit against the city Thursday to keep police from searching the bags of passengers entering the subway, organization lawyers said.

The suit, which will be filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, will claim that the two-week old policy violates constitutional guarantees of equal protection and prohibitions against unlawful searches and seizures, while doing almost nothing to shield the city from terrorism.

It argues that the measure also allows the possibility for racial profiling, even though officers are ordered to randomly screen passengers. "While concerns about terrorism of course justify -- indeed, require -- aggressive police tactics, those concerns cannot justify the Police Department's unprecedented policy of subjecting millions of innocent people to suspicionless searches," states the suit, a partial copy of which was provided to Newsday.

Names of the plaintiffs -- subway riders who object to the searches -- were redacted in the copy, but are expected to be released Thursday morning.

A city Law Department spokeswoman said that since officials had not yet received the suit, she could not yet comment. The city is named as a defendant, along with the police department and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. Thursday, before the suit was released, Kelly said that the searches were "just one more layer, one more tool." "No one thinks that will be the solution, but it does give a potential terrorist something more to think about," he said.

The civil liberties union has criticized the searches as over-reaching since Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the measure on July 21, after terrorists targeted London's mass transit system for the second time in two weeks. It also calls the stops ineffective because terrorists can walk through entrances where police are not screening.

[Haru Hara Haruko]

Right. So, except for minors and those declared incompetent to act as adults, all adults are treated equally. In fact, the Constitution explicitly requires this of our government, and the XIVth requires all states to treat all adults equally under thelaw as well, right?

[Haru Hara Haruko]

Read my other posts on other threads to learn what I think of penumbras.

[Haru Hara Haruko]

If VA decided not to let folks over the age of 80 drive wouldn't they be allowed to do that?

Oh, come on, you know the answer is "No" and the reason is the XIVth. So why is 18 versus 21 different? Do we have and age-of-majority-lite now?

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

I'll pass.

[DocRock]

I made this little graphic and hosted this video during the run up to the 2004 Republican Convention. The NYCLU held training seminars for protesters. I made this collage of vids from C-Span. Terrorists learn a lot from groups like the NYCLU.

Click On Image To Watch
Protester Training By
NYCLU Lawyers

Topics covered: Wearing masks, photographing subways, dogs sniffing (she had a Freudian slip and said 'smoking') bags,
and my favorite...THE POLICE CANNOT SEARCH YOUR BAGS IF YOU KNOW YOUR
RIGHTS, EVEN IN THE SUBWAY!
I'm sure terrorist everywhere are going to love these training seminars.

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

The ACLU are in-house counsel for every conceivable malcontent, terrorist and America-loathing group in the nation.

The National Lawyer's Guild also made its presence felt at the RNC.

I can't tell you how many of those obnoxious weenies-with their ridiculous neon green hats and cam-corders-I ran into last August.

The sight of them made me physically ill.

[elkfersupper]

HHH, I agree with you.

According to this: Traveling is a Right, driving IS a right, not a privilege. At least until you surrender that right by asking the State for a "License".

[Haru Hara Haruko]

It is one of those modern fudges. The state really isn't authorized to select among people to confer upon them the priviledge to drive. So license requirements are low - vide the ease with which illegal immigrants obtain a license. If it were really a priviledge, THAT would not happen.

Similarly, warrantless searches happen, and are pseudo-required, but rely on a thicket of regulations that would be onerous to challenge and other fudges to stay in place.

Pretty remarkable how some "conservatives" line up for the anal probe just because someone in a blue uniform says they should.

[tomahawk]

Michael Savage is right.

He's not nuts, he's very smart (though intentionally inflammatory so as to be entertaining) and he nailed this one and the ACLU as the 5th column.

[elkfersupper]

Pretty remarkable how some "conservatives" line up for the anal probe just because someone in a blue uniform says they should.

Yes, indeedy.

UK: Police Giving Roadside Eye Exams Essex, UK drivers are being stopped so that police can test their eyesight. Police in Essex, UK are stopping motorists so that they can administer roadside eye exams. The move is part of an Essex County Council road safety campaign that will continue for at least one month. Under UK rules, drivers must be able to read a license plate from 20.5 meters (67 feet) away. Only sixteen of the drivers who have been stopped thus far have failed the test. They were forced to leave their cars behind as officers drove them home and provided advice on how to get their eyesight properly corrected by an optometrist.

Police Giving Roadside Eye Exams

[ladyinred]

MORONS. Although I think they should profile like they do in London, at least this is something! It appears the left has learned nothing since 911. If they regain power, we are all in big trouble.

[Haru Hara Haruko]

It appears the left has learned nothing since 911. If they regain power, we are all in big trouble.

So I must have missed the part where George W. Bush and the Republican House and Senate pushed through the bills to actually create secure borders and throw out illegal immigrants, including the hundreds of thousands of radical Moslems who committed immigration fraud by not disclosing ties to terrorist organizations.

What will it take? Two more USSC seats and THEN no excuses?

[OKIEDOC]

Did anyone see a photo of these ACLU commies.

What a God awful looking bunch of veggie burger eating butt holes.

To be a leftists wacko does a person have to look like and act like a kook.

[Zavien Doombringer]

you are obviously out of touch with your senses...

[Zavien Doombringer]

I got news for you... that link isn't going to stop the state from taking your license if you break the rules... A right cannot be taken away, a priviledge can be...

[Haru Hara Haruko]

The burglary solution rate in your town is under 10%.

Thousands of illegal aliens illegally drive the roads of your town every day.

The donut muncher may shout "Respect mah authoritayyyy!" but they can't even find their ass with both hands and a flashlight. And we are supposed to be in awe of their ability to "take away privileges?"

It is to laugh.

[Zavien Doombringer]

I don't know what it's like in your wold, but your hollywood discription is not the way it is in my world

[Haru Hara Haruko]

What is the burglary solution rate in your town? Got stats? You might be surprised to find out how bad it is.

Then ask the PD how many unexecuted default warrants they have in a big pile somewhere.

[Zavien Doombringer]

The stat isn't posted, but what does that have to do with rights?

[Haru Hara Haruko]

It has to do with the fact that laws are barely enforced.

In some big cities, you have a better than even chance of getting away with murder.

It makes talk of "priviledges" a joke when actual crimes go largely ignored.