Big Dogs Weblog

Judge Throws Flag On Pat Downs

by Big Dog on Jul 29, 2006 at 12:47 Uncategorized

A judge in Florida has ruled that the pat down of patrons of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team is illegal. He said it was probably unconstitutional for this to occur and this has caused a stir in the NFL where it is not uncommon for these pat downs to occur. I am no lawyer but once again I think the judge screwed the pooch. Admittedly, I do not know the Florida Constitution but the article says “suspicion-less searches.” One thing I am pretty sure of and that is the law and the Constitution are designed to protect you from intrusion of government. The government is not allowed to do suspicion-less searches but the owner of a property may.

The NFL leases the stadium and part of their security is to pat down people as they enter the stadium. This should be well within their rights as the property owners (or responsible party due to the lease) and the government and the judge should not allow this to change. Usually, places say that patrons may be subject to search and the ticket might actually indicate that on it. By purchasing the ticket people acknowledge they might be searched.

I believe the judge screwed this one up but I would like to know why they are concerned about this when the states have already said that suspicion-less searches are OK when they are done by the government. Sobriety checkpoints are suspicion-less searches of people. They are stopped with no probable cause and they are checked to see if they appear to have been drinking. Those who say that if people did not drink and drive should have nothing to worry about should remember that when they complain about the Patriot Act.

Source:
CBS Sportsline

Just a last thought. Does this ruling make it illegal to be patted down at the airport? How about going through the metal detector, is that a search without suspicion?

Tags: News