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.