NO PLACE IN THE U.S.

That three justices thought it was OK to check cars for drugs at random is
just plain scary.

You can't argue with Supreme Court justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas
and William Rehnquist when they maintain that roadblocks set up in
Indianapolis to randomly search cars for drugs were effective
crime-fighting tools.

To run with their logic, an even more effective method would be to just
check everyone's homes on a regular basis. Why don't we just do that?

Well, because of a little thing called the Fourth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution, which ensures that "the right of the people to be secure in
their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches
and seizures shall not be violated."

What's frightening is that three intelligent Supreme Court justices
would've had it violated, if they'd had their way.

The hysteria of the drug war has led to enough violations of our rights. To
allow police to stop motorists willy-nilly on the outside chance they might
find some drugs would be the most amazing and unfortunate loss of rights yet.

Never mind the possibility that such roadblocks, in targeting high-crime
areas, could lead to disproportionate detention of minorities.

Thankfully, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the majority on the court said
allowing authorities to cast such wide nets "would be little check on the
authorities' ability to construct roadblocks for almost any conceivable law
enforcement purpose."

That's called a police state. And it has no place in these United States.