The next election for President depends on 2 words: Supreme Court. The greatest protection from government is freedom from harm. If the state starts to hurt instead of guard our choices we are returning to authoritarian rule slowly but surely. It is bad enough warrantless wiretaps continue among other things. Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

The Wall Street Journal just posted some advice for the upcoming 13.8% tax on income from your 401K's and IRA"a starting after the election in 2014. This tax is going to pay for ObamaCare. It is not being publicized before the election. All the good feelings of "FREE" health care will then disappear. If you missed the fact that no one is talking about the national debt and instead is focusing on "free" contraceptive health care for women and membership in the Augusta Golf Club, get ready to recalculate how you are going to live in your old age. These "straw man" issues really work. Even I, a man, get upset thinking that some indigent female will not receive her free medicine before having sex. It is also really an issue of national import to assure that women can be members of that bastion of golf in Georgia. What could be more important to the future of our nation. George W. said, "read my lips" but, Barry's lips are whispering sweet nothings to an electorate enamored of "FREE" everything. Like that old African American woman interviewed on Television asked where she was going to get the money to pay for her new home, she replied, "President Obama is going to give it to me".

Funny how Ms. Vennochi did not mention that the Supreme Court's opinion supported the Obama Administration.

Waiting for the usual trolls to denounce this piece and explain why these two seemingly antithetical positions are in fact consistent and reasonable, accusing President Obama of racism or socialism in the process. Good column!

Good morning, Willie. You wrote something similar to what I was thinking: that the trolls are getting even more active (and increasingly off-topic). The only thing not clear to me is are their subscriptions sponsored or are they so dedicated they do this at their own expense? While I don't mind partisanship or trolling, I do find it incredible that they expect to be taken seriously, or is that part of the operating definition?

JLErwin3, it is puzzling that certain posters who clearly loathe the Globe and its editorial positions support it thru paid subscriptions. I also note these same posters who are so regular and consistent here do not post on non-subscription Herald columns, at least I've never seen them on the occasions when I've checked. This leads me to believe that at least a couple of them are on salary and the BG is their "assignment". I except Mr Arnold, who is too authentic to be anything but what he says he is. I could only speculate on the intent of trolling on progressive sites/articles, whether it is personally motivated or orchestrated by political entities. Elections are decided on the margins, so perhaps it's part of an effort to sway right-leaning independents who subscribe to the BG.

No, you get arrested after paying the fine but the system issues a warrant anyway. You are not accused of a drug-related or violent crime but you end up in jail for a week and undergo two separate strip searches. The point of the leash law example is that it doesn't matter why a citizen is detained, the Supreme Court just made it legal to strip search anyone who is detained, regardless of the reason.

Good column Joan. Another civil liberty down the drain. Another step closer to a police state, or is it already here? I have read that there is some recourse at the local level to mitigate this. We cannot just accept this or adopt a defeatist attitude. Keep writing about this one Globe, you are doing you job.

I'm starting to understand why my paid subscription of the WSJ has hundreds of comments and the Boston Globe comment section only has less then 10. And out of that few, they are far left extremists. If you don't agree with the far left extremist's ideology you are label a racist, GOP lover and a troll. Some how these extremists are not aware that we have more independents in Mass than Democrats. And yet these extremists want you to think they are open minded. Happy Easter!

You are talking common sense. Overload for the far left extremists.

Understanding is usually a good thing. Happy Easter to you too! Far left extremist!

With all due respect, you understand that your post is basically incoherent, except on a visceral level, which unsurprisingly resonates with the ultra moderate LuvUSA1. Speaking of which, I am still very unhappy that said right wing extremist uses a copyrighted image with impunity to promote a partisan point of view, but if someone else puts it on an ad for their business, they will be sued tomorrow. An American progressive who likes the Patriots

You can already get people arrested when the cops do a search of a vehicle and when cops have people empty their pockets. What on God's green earth are you talking about? How many more drugs are you going to find by making people strip? How many people do you think are walking around with drugs in their anal cavities? Drug dealers that is. You've been watching too many movies. Half of the people in U.S. jails are in for non-violent drug offences. We jail more people than any other country in the world as a percentage of the population. It's an industry. The solution isn't more laws and regulations. The solution is to legalize drugs. All of this crime and death and destruction you mention would go away without these ridiculous laws. And strip searching people is not going to have any effect on this topic anyway. Get a grip.

The Washington Post often has over 2,000 comments for their articles, for free as on Boston.com. The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal are more national in scope, and do not review comments before they are posted, as does the New York Times. The Boston Globe is just a smaller market. For that matter, boston.com is a smaller market.

Hey profox - what's your deal? The topic here is the Supreme Court and strip searches. Something you should be against. Something any rational, freedom loving American should be dead-set against. Taxes, blah, blah, taxes, blah, Obamacare, blah, taxes, conspiracy, blah, blah, blah, black people, blah, Obama, blah taxes, blah, blah, blah.......

Joanie, don't you worry your little empty head, everything will be okay!