Pubdate: Sun, 14 Apr 2002
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2002 Cox Interactive Media.
Contact:  http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Mark Helm, Hearst Newspapers
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?203 (Terrorism)

War On Terrorism

COURT TO WEIGH POWER TO SEARCH PASSENGERS

WASHINGTON -- Since the Sept. 11 attacks, thousands of police and military 
troops have patrolled the nation's airports, train stations and bus 
terminals in search of terrorists.

But how much power do these officers and soldiers have to search passengers?

The Supreme Court takes up the issue Tuesday in a drug case that could help 
define civil liberties in wartime.

The court must decide under what circumstances the Constitution permits 
police to search people for contraband if they are on public 
transportation. In particular, the justices must decide whether police who 
want to look for drugs or evidence of other crimes must first inform 
passengers of their rights.

According to Lewis Katz, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University 
in Cleveland, the court's ruling could clarify what police may do as they 
approach a passenger.

"Since Sept. 11, security has moved up to issue No. 1 with both the 
American people and with the government," he said. "But the courts haven't 
yet dealt with how the increased need for security should impact the 
behavior of police, if at all."

In documents filed with the court, U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson 
argued that a decision limiting the ability of police and other security 
officials to conduct searches could hamper efforts to protect the nation's 
transportation system from terrorism.

But Steven L. Seliger, an attorney for one of the defendants in the case, 
called the government's attempt to involve the terrorist attacks in the 
matter "a transparent play on emotion."

"The Constitution did not change on Sept. 11," Seliger said.

The case began Feb. 4, 1999, when Christopher Drayton, 26, and Clifton 
Brown Jr., 29, boarded a Greyhound bus traveling from Fort Lauderdale, 
Fla., to Detroit.

At a stop in Tallahassee, three police officers boarded. Two walked to the 
back while the third took the driver's seat and faced the passengers. The 
two officers in the aisle questioned passengers about their destinations 
and announced that they were conducting "bus interdiction" in an effort to 
find drugs and weapons.

Brown gave permission to search their bag. No drugs were found.

The officers, who noticed that the men were wearing heavy, baggy clothing 
on a hot day, then asked permission to conduct a pat-down search. The men 
agreed and the officers detected objects on their thighs that resembled 
drug packages. Both were arrested, and a further search revealed packages 
of cocaine taped inside several pairs of boxer shorts that they each wore.

In U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, Drayton and Brown argued the cocaine 
was found during an illegal search. But Judge William Stafford allowed the 
cocaine as evidence, and both men were convicted of drug trafficking.

Drayton and Brown were sentenced to 10 years and 7 1/3 years in prison, 
respectively.

But in 2000, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta unanimously 
overturned the convictions, ruling the search was coercive.

The court said a reasonable person would have felt uncomfortable refusing 
the officers' request and the officers never told passengers they were free 
to say no to the search.
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