The Supreme court ruled against a man who was strip searched, twice, after being arrested for a traffic ticket he had already paid.
Now's the part where we see if the folks who truly consider the Constitution to be a holy document that is perfect and not at all in need of revision come to the defense of the justices who ruled on this case.
Cliff Notes: the 4th Amendment protects against 'unreasonable search and seizure'. The justices ruled that the local authorities know best when to conduct strip searches, and on whom.
My opinion: This was a horrible miscarriage of justice and a sad commentary that the conservative leanings seem to be paradoxically a mish-mash of "Don't Tread On Me" small-government keep-your-hands-off-my-guns freedom lovers, who nevertheless don't seem to extend that to the physical body cavities of the citizenry.
I mean, we're talking about the government putting it's fingers
literally inside your most personal bodily orifices. Read the details: He was made to strip naked, turn around a bunch of times, squat, lift up his genitals, etc. If that makes you feel uncomfortable, congratulations: you're not a sociopath.
Now
of course strip searches can and sometimes are perfectly necessary, and the 4th Amendment only protects against searches that are 'unreasonable'. However, this guy was no criminal. He'd paid the fine. The warrant hadn't been updated, which as far as I can tell is the government's fault. And yet he was detained for six days, and twice forced to strip naked and submit to humiliating searches.
I'd worry less about the government coming to take my guns, and instead worry more about the government grabbing my junk and shoving its fingers up my rectum just because they deem it necessary, and for that authority to rest
with the guy fingering me.
2012-04-02, 12:45 PM
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