Chapter 5: Civil Liberties
5/17/99

In a recent decision, the Supreme Court significantly reduced the privacy rights of automobile passengers. As a result of this decision, passengers can be subject to a search of their personal possessions not because of anything that they have done but simply due to their presence in the car. The Court felt such broad searches were necessary for police to deal effectively with drug crimes.

How far does this decision extend a police officer's ability to search passengers? Can a taxi passenger's possessions now be searched simply because the driver was stopped for a traffic violation? Can passengers in a limo, bus, train, or airplane be searched due to an officer's stop of the driver, conductor, or pilot? How far have privacy rights been eroded due to a passenger's presence in a moving vehicle?

4/5/99

In Georgia, a civil libertarian who is adamantly opposed to drug testing has created a Web site to act on his beliefs. This individual is particularly opposed to urine testing due to his belief that it violates the right to privacy and bodily integrity. So he has created a Web page designed to help people pass a urine test looking for drugs. His page is not alone. There are Web pages advertising the Urinator and Detox programs to assist people in dealing with urine testing primarily in the workplace.

Are these valid forms of expression designed to protect a fundamental right to privacy? At least one state legislator in Georgia doesn't think so and has introduced a bill to ban Web sites advertising methods of passing urine tests. For him, these sites compromise an important governmental objective that is a drug-free workplace.

Interestingly, there are also Web pages promoting test kits so that employers and parents can conduct drug tests on their employees and children. These also raise concerns about civil liberties in the workplace and at home.

1/14/99

In late November 1998, the CBS show "60 Minutes" broadcast an unprecedented videotape. The videotape showed Dr. Jack Kevorkian giving a lethal injection to a terminally ill male, who suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease. Kevorkian contended that the purpose of the videotape was to bring the debate about physician-assisted suicide to a new level. Unlike his past efforts in regard to physician-assisted suicide where he provided advice and equipment for a person to commit suicide, here Kervorkian directly administered a shot that killed an individual. While Kervorkian viewed his effort as a way of raising national consciousness about the issue, the local prosecutor viewed the tape as direct evidence of first-degree homicide. He charged Kervorkian with murder. While the case is being tried, Kervorkian has gone on a hunger strike until he is found innocent by the court. Interestingly, the "60 Minutes" broadcast captured the show's largest audience of the season, even though some stations refused to air the show.

For more information about Kervorkian and his efforts on physician-assisted suicide, go to The Kervorkian Verdict: The Life and Legacy of the Suicide Doctor.

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