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Searches federally allowed

In his column “It’s not a shutdown,” (Jan. 27) Shawn Vestal takes issue with Mayor David Condon’s refusal to enforce the City Council’s law intended to “stop warrantless Border Patrol searches at the city-owned bus station.” The Mayor states he lacks authority to do so – he is correct.

Mr. Vestal and the City Council rely on a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case, Almeida-Sanchez v. U.S. Such reliance is misplaced. Although this case invalidated a warrantless vehicle search by the Border Patrol 25 miles from the border, the court held such searches were not universally invalid. In fact, the court stated such searches, done without a warrant, could take place not only at the border itself, but also at its “functional equivalents” which would include, as stated by the court “a point marking the confluence of two or more roads that extend from the border…”

The bus station is located at the confluence of Interstate 90, U.S. Highway 2 and U.S. Highway 395. The latter two extend south from the border. In other words, a search at the bus station is the “functional equivalent” of a border search and permissible under federal law which allows warrantless searches within 100 air miles of the border.

Jim McDevitt

Spokane



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