Legal Question in Constitutional Law in New York
Searches of people leaving retail stores
I am curious as to the legality of searches that are conducted at sporting goods, electronics, and Wal-Mart & K-Mart type stores. Upon leaving such a store, employees- cahsiers or security guards, ask for a receipt to verify that what's in your bag matches the receipt. Is it legally permissible to decline such a search? Is being in the store and wishing to leave with merchandise enough of a reason to search everyone who meets those criteria? Can you be detained for not consenting to a search?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Searches of people leaving retail stores
Shopkeepers (And for the purpose of this issue Kmart, Walmart security are considered shopkeepers)have a common law right to stop and briefly detain customers who they suspect of shoplifting.
As far as I'm aware, it's an open question as to whether the right extends to brief detention absent a suspicion of shoplifiting or whether refusal to permit a brief suspicionless stop would by itself be grounds to make such a detention evolve into one of suspicion since it was caused by the store owner.
My intuition is in this particular time of legal random searches a brief non detentive suspicionless search by a private store keeper would be upheld as legal but I am not aware of any specific law on the matter.
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