Stripping away our rights

You might think something as simple as a bike bell is not the kind of thing to land you naked in front of a police officer. But you would be wrong.

That is exactly what can and did happen in New Jersey to a man who was arrested, strip-searched and detained for riding his bicycle without an audible bell.

In 2003, nun was forced to bare her bones for peaceably trespassing at an anti-war demonstration in San Francisco.

Others have violated similar laws, such as using a turn signal, and have been similarly violated.

The Supreme Court, in a contentious 5-4 decision last week, has upheld this kind of behavior.

In his opinion for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that it was not the job of any court to question the decisions of corrections officials.

Well then, what is Justice Kennedy’s opinion of the job of the court system? Are courts not in the business of second-guessing everyone, law enforcement included? This ruling seems to establish a massive double standard. It seems to create a country in which the only entity immune from the law is that which enforces it.

In fact, some police actions in the case placed before the court seem nothing if not questionable.

Albert Florence was pulled over by New Jersey state troopers while on his way to dinner. Florence was arrested because the trooper claimed he had not paid a fine, even though he was carrying a letter that stated he had. Florence was detained for at least six days and strip-searched not once, but twice before the mistake was rectified and he was released.

The argument is that police need the indiscriminate power to strip-search any incoming detainee to prevent the introduction of contraband into prisons.

In other words, people who ride bikes without bells are actually gang members trying to get arrested so they can smuggle drugs and Twinkies into jails.

What Kennedy skips over is an idea he presented in a decision he wrote a year ago. At the time, Kennedy argued that “prisoners retain the essence of human dignity inherent in all persons.”

Few things seem more undignified than being asked to spread your cheeks, bend over and cough — Florence was asked to do all of these things.

It is the main responsibility of the court system of any country to ensure citizens are receiving their rights.

In this ruling, the Supreme Court has passed that main responsibility on to law enforcement officials by telling them it is not any court’s responsibility to hold them accountable for their actions.

But recently, those actions have brought to light a wide range of ethical issues. Chemical weapons abuse, ticket-fixing — these little foul-ups force us to ask whether this institution deserves the kind of power it has just been given.

So next time you think about jaywalking or driving with a headlight out, consider giving yourself a good wash down there first.