The Right Not to Fly

There were no fewer than 31 attempted skyjackings in the U.S. during 1972, and one inevitable consequence was a new set of federal regulations that went into effect last week: all passengers and all hand luggage must be inspected for weapons, explosives, and even any unexplained metal.

This tightened security may or may not reduce skyjacking, but it will certainly increase the concern among civil libertarians about the right of privacy. Though figures are still scattered, it is estimated that more than 80% of the arrests related to airline searches have nothing to do with skyjacking.

Most courts have thus far avoided the complications of these "bonus" arrests, which are generally made without search warrants. Now Federal Judge Warren J. Ferguson in Los Angeles has become apparently the first judge to declare a skyjack search unconstitutional. He acted in the case of John K. Meulener, who tried to board an American Airlines flight and activated a magnetometer. Since Meulener also fitted the secret federal "skyjacker profile," which purports to list the characteristics of potential skyjackers, he was thoroughly searched. Authorities found 76 grams of heroin and more than half a kilo of marijuana in his suitcase, plus a vial of hashish oil in his pants pocket. He was promptly arrested. Judge Ferguson ruled, however, that the search had been unconstitutional for two reasons. It had not begun with a simple pat-down for weapons, which he considered permissible under previous Supreme Court rulings. And Meulener had not been explicitly warned that he would not be searched if he chose not to fly. If he decided to leave rather than be searched, said the judge, then the Government had no more power to stop him than any other citizen.

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