This sent me straight to the tub of ice cream with a spoon in my hand

Today's Boston Globe gives the sad and fearful news that

[a] federal judge ruled yesterday that MBTA security forces are justified in searching the bags of all passengers on the Orange Line as the subway approaches the site of this week's Democratic National Convention, rejecting a request by two groups trying to halt the practice.

Teams of armed police officers have been boarding Orange Line trains all week at the Haymarket and Bunker Hill Community College stations, asking riders to open their bags.

The National Lawyers Guild and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee filed a request for an injunction in federal court Tuesday, alleging the onboard inspections violated the Fourth Amendment's guarantee against unreasonable searches.

But US District Court Judge George A. O'Toole ruled that the searches are limited in scope and duration, that riders were notified about the policy, and that security measures are legitimately extended from airports to mass transit systems, given the general terrorist threat.

What a crock of shit. What a flaming, disgraceful, disgusting, twisted, contemptible crock of shit. I don't recall anywhere in the Constitution where it says "no unreasonable searches - except if we decide otherwise." I don't recall reading any footnotes saying that "this provision does not apply anytime some power-hungry jackasses want to manipulate your fears with reports of 'threats' so vague and generalized as to be useless." I don't recall any later amendment empowering local police to override the 4th amendment because they find it inconvenient to follow it.

The decision related to a specific subway line during a specific time, but if you think that's all there is to it, you're a fool. Last week, the MBTA started random searches of bags along all the other lines, something I noted in a pre-convention post on June 8.

MBTA officials said they have not decided whether those searches will continue.

O'Toole "affirmed that we had a compelling reason" to search passenger bags as a deterrent against terrorism, said Michael Mulhern, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. "Post-DNC, we need to evaluate."

Mulhern said that it's "doubtful" the T will conduct random searches. But if law enforcement officials raise the threat levels or provide information about possible planned attacks, he said, searches could be initiated.

"Evaluate?" "Doubtful?" Let's translate: The Boston police department, having gotten approval of a wholesale dumping of the 4th Amendment during the Democratic convention, is seriously considering making "random" searches of passengers using public transit a routine practice and intends to use O'Toole's lamebrain decision and the constant flow of vaporous "threats" to justify it.

Exceptions to the 4th Amendment were supposed to be based on "individuated suspicion," that is, a reasonable belief that the particular person or place was suspicious in a manner and to a degree that justified the invasion of privacy involved. General searches, whether random or of everyone in a place, clearly violate that principle and undermine - indeed eviscerate - the Constitutional protections.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Footnote: I don't even get to post it before I get confirmation. The Boston Herald, the city's equivalent of the New York Post, had this, this morning:

Buoyed by a federal judge's ruling allowing MBTA searches of Orange Line riders' bags near the FleetCenter, the T is likely to continue some searches long after the Dems leave town.

"There's no question in my mind baggage inspections need to be given serious consideration in the future for certain types of events or threat levels," MBTA General Manager Michael H. Mulhern said yesterday.

Mulhern said a rider Monday morning could face an inspection, but added, "I would say the likelihood will be a lot less."

Scum-sucking jerk. Lacking that individuated suspicion, the likelihood should be zero.