Re: Warrantless searches -- A sign of things to come?

[Black Unicorn <unicorn@access.digex.net>]

> BUT NO WARRANT WAS SERVED! Does that mean I can get the ACLU up the school's
> ass?  If the school says they can do that because I pay to live on their
> property, then why can't the CHA do what they want?
 
  Ah, but you see, you moved into the dorm (and signed a paper) saying you
  would follow the school's rules.  These rules included uncool search and
  seizure and are allowed since you are not in a home... it's similar to a
  hotel's right to do room service when you're out at the pool.

<-

What your talking about is the difference between a lease and a license.
Dorm "agreements" generally avoid the terms of art that make an
agreement a lease.  This is one of the reasons that they are called
"Housing agreements."

The fact that you do not have a leasehold on the property is one of the
legal catches to allow your constitutional rights against search and
seizure to be avoided.

In fact many of the protections that are afforded leaseholders are denied
those who merely have a "license."

Such is NOT the case with the majority of government based housing.

You cannot SIGN AWAY your rights in most cases.  The exceptions are
numerous, but a clause in a lease that says "the owner may search and
seize whatever he likes" is hardly one of them.

-uni- (Dark)