Re: Erosion of Civil Liberties.

["Roger Stenning \(G1LIW\)" <g1liw@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Robert wrote...

> Yes, her civil liberties have. There's an obvious Fourth Amendment
> issue: the government must not abridge one's right to be secure in
> "person, papers and effects".  If Anheuser-Busch is undertaking
> these precautions at governmental request, then they're acting as
> an agent of the government, and thus, the searches are patently
> illegal.

Interesting problem. From an admittedly UK perspectice on US law, the only recourse to circumventing the 4th Amendement
would be to make each ticket to travel a conditional contract to carry, where passengers agree to security precautions,
including personal searches if required, before embarkation; i.e., no agreement, no travel, or 'failure to agree
invalidates this contact to carry the customer'.

It would thus remove the requirement under your Fourth Amendment, while maintaining civil rule of law in the USA.

> As the learned Justice Holmes wrote, "the Constitution is not a
> suicide pact"--i.e., the Constitution itself may be suspended if
> necessitated by a clear national emergency.  The Constitution
> contains the mechanism required to suspend itself: namely,
> Congress must impose martial law.  The President cannot;
> Lincoln tried, and was overturned by the Supreme Court.

It's not neccessary for the US Constitution to be lifted. Since private companies run the airlines, provide the majority
of security, and so on, it is up to THEM, not the government, to secure themselves. Liability laws prove this - as I'm
sure the Learned Judge Hansen will confirm.

Therefore, it is not really up to the USG to improve security at airports - local government, i.e., state/city Police,
who operate under the Constitution, provide what they have been doing all along. Federal Authorities provide Air marshal
services, and airlines run the First Line Of Defence in securing the airways, by preventing those possessing potentially
dangerous items from boarding THEIR aircraft.

In the M.E. world, the only thing that would therefore change, is the airline security point. In the real world, your
personal security would increase, at the cost of agreeing to a common-sense contact of carriage.

Howzzat?

Best regards,

Roger Stenning
Organiser, The Impossible Scenarios Group
www.the-isg.co.uk
ICQ: 74721632
UK Amateur Radio call sign: G1LIW
(PGP public key available on request)
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