Opinion ID: 146453
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Breadth of Entry Search

Text: The plaintiffs challenge both New York City Administrative Code § 14-107, the statute under which Dickerson was arrested, incarcerated, and prosecuted, and Operation Stinking Badges, the joint federal-city policy pursuant to which all three plaintiffs were searched and arrested upon entry to the federal building at 26 Federal Plaza. Irrespective of the constitutionality of section 14-107, [21] the plaintiffs argue that Operation Stinking Badges is unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment because it mandates an illegal entry search that is an unconstitutional extension of the `special needs' doctrine. Appellants' Br. at 31. There is little basis for, and no case law of which we are aware to support, the proposition that the police cannot conduct a limited search upon entry to a public building for the purpose of identifying fake badges, much less authority for the proposition that entry searches must be limited to searches for weapons. The Fourth Amendment requires that searches and seizures be reasonable. A search or seizure is ordinarily unreasonable in the absence of individualized suspicion of wrongdoing. City of Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U.S. 32, 37, 121 S.Ct. 447, 148 L.Ed.2d 333 (2000). However, there are limited circumstances in which th[is] usual rule does not apply, including certain regimes of suspicionless searches where the program was designed to serve special needs, beyond the normal need for law enforcement. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted). To determine whether the special needs of the government permit a search that would otherwise be impermissible under the Fourth Amendment, courts first examine whether the search serves as its immediate purpose an objective distinct from the ordinary evidence-gathering associated with criminal investigations. MacWade v. Kelly, 460 F.3d 260, 268 (2d Cir.2006). We are not persuaded by the plaintiffs' attempt to characterize searches pursuant to the challenged policy as methods of ordinary evidence-gathering to identify bogus badges. See Appellants' Br. at 33 (arguing that it is clear that this policy is designed not to prevent the introduction of weapons, but to perform evidence gathering for ordinary criminal investigations; in other words, an unconstitutional entry search). The evidence presented to the district court establishes without contradiction that the searches at issue are a means of ensuring the safety of federal buildings because objects that resemble badges, even if not displayed, present a significant security risk in the event the bearer gains access to the building. See Mahoney Reply Decl. ¶ 2. Having been persuaded that the search provided for by Operation Stinking Badges served as its immediate purpose the special function of physically protecting federal buildings, we must decide whether such an entry search was reasonable. MacWade, 460 F.3d at 269. To determine reasonableness, courts consider (1) the weight and immediacy of the government interest, (2) the nature of the privacy interest that is compromised by the search, (3) the character of the intrusion imposed by the search, and (4) the efficacy of the search in advancing the government interest. Id. In this case, the government interest in protecting federal buildings is substantial; the search in question is minimally intrusive, involving little more than passage through a metal detector; and the search appears to have been, to some extent, effective in locating bogus badges. The only factor that bears any weight in the plaintiffs' favor is their privacy interest in not being screened upon entering a government building. While we recognize that plaintiffs do maintain a privacy interest in not being screened upon entrance to a building, this interest has routinely been found to be reasonably overcome in comparable searches evaluated and upheld by this and other courts. See, e.g., MacWade, 460 F.3d at 275 (upholding searches at subway stations); Cassidy v. Chertoff, 471 F.3d 67, 85 (2d Cir.2006) (upholding Department of Homeland Security's practice of searching carry-on baggage and vehicles of randomly selected passengers on a ferry); Wilkinson v. Forst, 832 F.2d 1330, 1340-41 (2d Cir.1987) (upholding certain searches at mass rallies); United States v. Edwards, 498 F.2d 496, 500 (2d Cir.1974) (upholding searches at airports); McMorris v. Alioto, 567 F.2d 897, 901 (9th Cir. 1978) (upholding search upon entry to state courthouse); Downing v. Kunzig, 454 F.2d 1230, 1232-33 (6th Cir.1972) (upholding searches upon entry to a federal building). We conclude that the searches in question here were reasonable, and accordingly we find such searches conducted under the auspices of Operation Stinking Badges to be permissible under the special needs exception to the Fourth Amendment.