PUBLIC PRIVACY

After Tallahassee police boarded a Greyhound bus, looking for illegal drugs
and weapons, they asked two passengers for permission to pat down their
baggy clothes. The two agreed, and officers found cocaine.

An appellate court, however, said neither man had been informed of his
right to leave and therefore the incriminating evidence was collected
during an unreasonable search and seizure.

If the decision is upheld, the guilty verdicts will be overturned. More
importantly, the door will be opened to an unpredictable new set of
restrictions on searches of people using public transpor- tation.

The Fourth Amendment originally was intended to ban an old English practice
of issuing permanent warrants that gave officers the right to search
certain people at any time, in any place and for any reason.

If a suspect wants to cooperate with an investigation, the courts should
not demand that officers discourage him from doing that. As for notifying
suspects of their rights, it's probably safe to say they know them as well
as the police, or better.