On Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:59:18 -0400, Dave Smith
> wrote:

>blake murphy wrote:
>>
>>
>> >Now that you mention it, that was one of the things that first turned me
>> >off WalMart, their having a "greeter" who wants to search your bags. I
>> >resent the assumption that I may be shoplifting. While they have reason to
>> >be concerned about theft they have no right to search my things just
>> >because I am in the store. If they have seen me shove something in a bag
>> >and walk out without paying for it that is a different matter, but they
>> >have no right to search without cause.
>>
>> incorrect. wal-mart is not the government; you have no fourth
>> amendment rights there.
>
>The Fourth Amendment doesn't apply to me because I am not in the US, but
>citizens cannot go around searching other citizens. In order to search
>someone, they need to have authority. The only people who have the
>authority work for the government. If a WalMart employee wants to search
>me or my bags he or she is going to have to make a citizen's arrest, and
>then they will run the risk of making an illegal arrest and that is more
>trouble than they need.
>
i don't know where you live; you'd have to check your local statutes.
but the citizen's arrest is nonsense. you're on their property, at
their sufferance. (there have been lawsuits if a pattern for, say,
searching all young black males, but that falls afoul of
discrimination laws, not fourth amendment rights.)

>> (of course, your fourth amendment rights are dwindling under the
>> government, but that's another story.)
>
>No argument there. :-(
>
>> do you think shoplifters have some kind of tattoos on their foreheads
>> that say 'search me, i'm a thief?'
>
>Of course not, but they need probable cause, and simply carrying a bag
>through their store does not constitute probable cause.
>
you have to meet certain conditions to be on their property to begin
with. 'no shirt, no service' and the like. theirs no 'probable
cause' involved. you surrender the right to not have your bag
inspected when you enter the store. of course, you can refuse, but
likely you will be asked to leave the premises at the very least.
>
>> whether it's good business practice to search mild-mannered citizens
>> such as yourself is another question. but they most certainly have
>> the right to do so.
>
>They may have the right to search their employees, and I don't know US law
>well enough to make a qualified statement, but they do not have the right
>to do it here.

where is here? check out singapore sometime.

your pal,
blake