A 64-year-old put his life savings in his carry-on, and U.S. Customs took it

Re:A 64-year-old put his life savings in his carry-on, and U... by DoofusOfDeath on Friday June 01, 2018 @08:41PM (#17211823)

I partially disagree with your statement that this is legal behavior by law enforcement.

It's one of those situations where IIRC the Supreme Court's relevant ruling from long ago was just plain wrong.

I think just about every sane adult agrees that this violates the Bill of Rights, regardless of any SCOTUS opinions to the contrary.

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Re:A 64-year-old put his life savings in his carry-on, and U... by microcolonel on Saturday June 02, 2018 @09:41AM (#17214557)

Yeah, it seems to be pretty clear. They justify it on the technicality that they are not charging you, but an inanimate object with no rights; but honestly they could do this with almost anything you own, including your own body, through reasoning which is only slightly more ludicrous.

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Re:A 64-year-old put his life savings in his carry-on, and U... by DrScump on Saturday June 02, 2018 @08:01PM (#17217112)

Even "wrong" decisions have the force of law.

I haven't read any specific cases, but I wonder if 5th (and 4th) Amendment issues were raised at trial in the first place; perhaps those protections weren't even put in play properly.

[Update] an example of this concern is raised elsewhere in this thread[0].

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17211885

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