New York police taken to court over subway searches

The New York Times reports the suit contends that the searches are ‘virtually certain neither to catch any person trying to carry explosives into the subway nor to deter such an effort’. It also says that many commuters have been selected in a ‘discriminatory and arbitrary’ manner, creating the potential for racial profiling. The police say, however, the searches, are both effective and legal. Under the search policy, officers are to use an essentially random criterion – stopping every 5th, 12th or 20th passenger carrying a bag or package. Selecting riders on the basis of race or national origin is prohibited, they say. The civil liberties union\'s lawsuit does not directly accuse the police of intentional discrimination in the searches, but contends that the policy violates the Fourth Amendment\'s prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures and the 14th Amendment\'s guarantee of equal protection under the law. Full report in The New York Times