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In article , says...

Dave wrote in
:

On Mon, 12 Apr 2004 13:49:30 -0000, Larry W4CSC said:

Many of the unconstitutional stops

This from another of what we used to call in the Navy a "sea-lawyer?"

Dave
S/V Good Fortune
CS27

It is illegal and unconstitutional to stop you in your car for no reason
other than the cop wants to go on a fishing expedition in your trunk.....

Why is this different in my boat? Why can the cop go on a fishing
expedition in my boat's "trunk" without a constitutional reason for
stopping me in the first place? Why do boaters like Dave become
conditioned to accept this on the water? What's the difference?

Larry W4CSC

Illegal Search and Seizure is illegal search and seizure.....

On accounta it's not illegal. The Supreme Court ruled nearly 200 years ago
that vessels are different and may be stopped and searched for any reason or
no reason. At the time, the concern was smuggling and recreational vessels
weren't in mind at all. The Court has had many opportunities to revisit the
issue and has declined to do so. You live-aboards do not have the
Constitutional rights of the rest of us. Of course, since the Patruiot Act
and before, none of us has many rights left.