How the Supreme Court Leaves Americans Exposed

The most interesting thing about the current Supreme Court, which has been at its most militant for the past half century, is that it denounces the extension of the federal government’s power when that decision is helpful to the court, but not when limiting federal power would be for the good of the citizens. For example, the Court decided that corporate contributions and lobbyists cannot be limited, because they are both expressions of the freedom of speech and therefore protected by the First Amendment. This decision has resulted in presidential campaigns that have beaten all the records of financial debauchery, thanks to the millionaires who outlandishly finance the candidates of their choice. Still, the court might still decide that the government should not require its citizens to have health insurance. But when it comes to humiliating Americans, in violation of the Constitution's Fourth Amendment, the Supreme Court jumps at the chance.

With a vote of five vocal conservatives against four, the Supreme Court justices decided that every American citizen can be subjected to a strip search, even for minor infractions or if there is no reason to suspect a serious offense or crime. From now on, the police can strip-search anyone whose bike has a malfunctioning bell or broken blinker, one of the justices who opposed the majority decision explained. The Supreme Court decided that it is neither excessive nor degrading to require citizens to appear naked in front of a government official. The court’s concept of liberty has taken such a strange shape that it is very difficult to understand. Until now, jurisprudence allowed police officers to proceed with a strip search only if there was reason to suspect the person was hiding something, such as drugs or a gun. Ten states, including Florida and Michigan (which are not conservative strongholds), have laws that prohibit strip searches without serious cause.

For the Supreme Court, the humiliation of a citizen by his government is only a small price to pay. What situation is more humiliating than for a person to be obliged to strip in front of a government official? (This resembles KGB practices during the pre-Khrushchev period.) A government that can force its citizens to strip for not fastening their seat belts is licensed to strip-search anyone they like. And we thought conservatives wanted a less-intrusive government. We can now see that in reality, they just want the government to intrude less into the wallets of the very rich. That’s the court’s idea of democracy.