The Sky is Falling
Tomorrow, New York City police officers are set to randomly inspect bags being brought onto the subway. It is an unprecedented move in the face of an unprecedented threat. Unfortunately, political correctness ensures that the NYPD will be looking at elderly grandmothers just as carefully as twenty-something Muslim men, according to this Times account.
People who do not submit to a search will be allowed to leave, but will not be permitted into the subway station. The police commissioner said officers would take pains to avoid singling people out for searches based on race or ethnicity.
"No racial profiling will be allowed," Mr. Kelly said. "It's against our policies. But it will be a systematized approach."
He added, "We'll give some very specific and detailed instructions to our officers on how to do it in accordance with our laws and the Constitution."
This confounds the brain. It is an indisputable fact that the overwhelming majority of terrorist attacks of this type are committed by young Muslim men. How is it racist to be more concerned over a young Muslim with a bag than with a middle-aged white woman? Ray Kelly is way smarter than this and I can only pray he was saying what reporters want to hear.
Lucky for Kelly, his critics are even more insipid.
"The police can and should be aggressively investigating anyone they suspect is trying to bring explosives into the subway," said Christopher Dunn, associate legal director at the New York Civil Liberties Union. "However, random police searches of people without any suspicion of wrongdoing are contrary to our most basic constitutional values. This is a very troubling announcement."
Please explain this one to me. When you board an aircraft, they search you even if you haven't done anything wrong. But doing it in the subway is unconstitutional? As I've confessed before, I'm not a constitutional lawyer, so perhaps it is, though I can't for the life of me imagine why. It's one thing to stop someone walking down the street, quite another when they try to enter the mass transit system. And if, due to some unimaginable legal precept, it is in fact unconstitional, that should merely serve to accelerate a long overdue debate we must have over the applicability of principles drafted over 200 years ago to the fight against terror. If checking bags when you enter the subway is counter to the Constitution, then it's the latter that has to bend.
posted by anguswit @ 01:33
10 comments
10 Comments:
Angus, you seem to be slightly more intelligent than some people talking about this issue, so I'll take some time to address you.
First of all, there is a KEY difference between entering a plane and entering a subway.
A plane is a private vehicle owned by a corporation.
A subway is a public service maintained with tax dollars.
A subway platform is public space, and if the authorities are allowed to randomly search in one public place, it stands to reason that they might also be allowed to search people in, say, a park, after the next park-bombing.
The constitution clearly states that citizens be granted the right to be free of unreasonable search. It is unreasonable for anyone in the government to go through my stuff and delay my commute when I am a law-abiding citizen entering a public system.
If you feel that the constitution should be changed, fine--let's get the 2/3 majority necessary and get the states ratifying.
PRACTICE NON-VIOLENT RESISTANCE - nedvizzini.com
Ned,
I appreciate your comments, and since you too seem more intelligent than most, I'll respond:
Basically, I dispute the public/private distinction between planes and trains. Planes are indeed private, but airports, where the searches take place, are not owned by corporations, but (usually) by semi-public agencies, like the port authority here in new york. moreover, security at airports has been nationalized, and is now an entirely publicly funded effort.
Subway stations, i would argue, are not public places in the same way that parks and libraries are. (Incidentally, i believe the new york library now also searches bags at entry - does that bother you too?) You pay to use mass transit and must abide by the rules while doing so. If the rules now say you may be subject to search, you may comply or elect to travel by some other means. Though many transit systems recieve public assistance, that does not make them public in of themselves. And if the legal status of these places is ambiguous, as they often are, it would take merely a stroke of paperwork to make them entirely private, without prejudicing their continued reciept of government subsidies.
I would be far more bothered by public searches in a park, which is unquestionably a public place. However, if authorities were to offer people a choice in the matter, as they have been doing on the subways, I think much of the constitutional problems would be solved.
On your last point, I am in full agreement. Altering the constitution, for any reason, must be done carefully and following a prolonged public discussion. But if there are those who would raise the issue of an ammendment to prohibit gay marriage, it would seem that our national security would at least warrant similar consideration.
Isn’t the difference that everyone is searched before entering an airport while the subway search policy calls for “random” searches? If they truly are random (like those red light/green light devices they use at customs checkpoints entering some countries) then I don't have a problem with it, but I have a huge problem when you start “randomly” searching everyone that looks Muslim.
Are you going to be supportive if the cops start pulling over everyone with a Phish sticker on their car because some study comes out that says Phish fans are twice as likely to be endangering the public by driving while high?
Actually, I would be supportive of that, provided that the study on phisheads is sound. The sad fact is that 99% of suicide terrorism is committed by Muslims, so I think the cops would be derelict in their duty if they actually searched people randomly. Counter-terrorism resources are scarce and should be used wisely.
what, you don't think a terrorist can plant a bomb on an elderly grandmother? even if most are suicide bombers now, you don't think they would quickly wisen up to racial profiling? and not to bring up the obvious, but how do you think you would feel if you were muslim? remember the red scare when jews were considered "more likely" to be communists? a phishead can cut his hair and paint over his bumper sticker, but you can't paint over your skin or cover up your ancestry. racial profiling is by far a more extreme measure than subway bag-checking, which, from what i hear over at the conde nast building, people are for the most part happy with. guess everyone will just walk, cab it, or keep the coaine at home. no big deal.
nothing is foolproof obviously but the possibility of planting a bomb on grandma seems highly unlikely. the whole point of counterterrorism is simply to make a bombing harder. sure, terrorists might wise up to profiling, which is why our tactics must be constantly evolving. but the fact that someone can't change their skin color is one of the best arguments for profiling. also, it's important to note that profiling isn't simply about skin, it's also about behavior that's suspicious. just look at how israeli airport security decides who's a threat - it's a range of factors. finally, the jewish communist thing is a terrible analogy. no one disputes the fact that 99% of terrorist bombings are committed by muslims. muslims are thought to be more likely to commit an act of terrorism because they ARE more likely to commit one. If you happen to be a law abiding muslim, that really sucks for you. It's not my fault that a radical minority of muslims want to destroy western culture, but it is my problem.
in case you haven't noticed, israel is hardly a democracy. part of the reason for this is because they treat different-colored citizens differently.
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