The Case for Searches on Public Transportation
3 THE CASE FOR SEARCHES ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION By Jocelyn Waite Attorney Reno, Nevada 2. Focus I. INTRODUCTION The balance of the Introduction presents the histori- cal background and context for the possible need for A. Statement of the Problem transit authorities to conduct searches and briefly ad- dresses the legal background and context: basic Fourth Due to increased concerns about security, transit Amendment3 requirements, particularly the warrant agencies—of their own volition or at the request of fed- and individualized suspicion requirements, and the eral, state, or local governments—may seek to institute exceptions to those requirements. However, the primary search procedures analogous to those done in airports to focus for legal analysis of security screening is on the ensure that explosives, biological weapons, etc., do not exceptions to the warrant and individualized suspicion enter the transit system. While security screenings are requirements. Therefore, the main body of the paper routine in airports, they have to date been rare in the discusses the categories of warrantless searches that 1 transit environment. Given their open nature, their provide likely legal models for analyzing transit high volume of traffic, and the type of trips taken on searches,4 most notably cases involving airport security them, transit systems present a very different security screening and other types of entry screening. After re- environment than airports. These differences give rise viewing the applicable legal authority, the paper pre-
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