Aug. 5, 2005 – In a lawsuit filed yesterday, the New York Civil Liberties Union charged that a recently-instituted policy subjecting New York City subway riders to random searches and bag checks violates federal prohibitions against unreasonable search and seizure. The organization also warned that the searches create the potential for racial and ethnic discrimination.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of five New York City residents opposed to the new policy, which was instituted in response to the bombing of London’s subway system. The city asserts that the searches are necessary to prevent a similar attack on New York’s metro transit system.
The suit alleges that the program, which the city says will continue indefinitely, stands in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment and "creates the potential for impermissible racial profiling."
In addition, the ACLU wrote, "The NYPD’s subway search program is virtually certain neither to catch any person trying to carry explosives into the subway system nor deter such an effort" because the searches are pre-announced and officers permit those selected for a search to walk away and not enter the station if they refuse to submit to the procedure. Furthermore, critics point out, a would-be terrorist can always go to a station where searches are not being implemented.
Police officials dispute the NYCLU claims. NYPD spokesperson Paul J. Browne said searches are legal and work, the New York Times reported. A spokesperson for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the police department had enacted safeguards to ensure that "there would be zero tolerance for racial profiling," according to the Chicago Tribune.
