Border and airport security are today’s hot-button Fourth Amendment issues, but whether body scanners and demanding cell phone access is unAmerican remains to be determined by the courts.

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Without the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America, the United States of America would not exist. As such, the values laid out in these two documents are, by definition, American values. And any values held in opposition to the values in these documents are, again by definition, unAmerican.

The Fourth Amendment

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

A person and their property may not be searched without probable cause. This right is regularly pushed against by law enforcement for reasons of public safety, and the courts regularly have to address what qualifies as probable cause and under what conditions this applies. For example, is it an unreasonable search to force an airline passenger to submit to a metal detector or millimeter wave scan? Is it unreasonable to pat down a passenger whom is shown to have something on their person or who refuses to pass through a scanner? Continue reading →