Search Me

Nope. I don't want to see any movie that badly. 

I just got a report from someone in Tennessee that at least one movie theater is looking through bags and purses for firearms, and am curious about the legality of searching people in private establishments--and if doing so could be the basis for a lawsuit. 

As I understand it, private membership stores like Sam's Club can, ON EXITING, check merchandise in the CART against receipts as part of an agreement you voluntarily sign, and if you don't allow it they can cancel your membership, but if any store open to the general public wants to look through your shopping bags WHEN LEAVING, you have the right to tell the employee to go pound sand. If they have strong enough suspicion you've stolen something, their only option is to call the cops--who you can again refuse giving search consent to, and it's up to them to determine if they have probable cause. And they and the store can be sued if it turns out they didn't.

I'm not sure what statutory provisions exist--and I imagine they'd vary state-to-state--for demanding a personal search as a condition of entry, and it sure seems like that could be challenged--especially if you've already purchased your ticket and it was not a clearly stated as a condition--or whether it's legal even if it was.

Understand that the report I got is, as yet, uncorroborated, so the intent here is not to gin up outrage over something that may not prove out. At this point, I'm strictly in information-gathering mode, and trying to find out if anyone else has heard of this occurring. I'll go back to my source and see if I can get more details on where this is reportedly happening, and if it's a specific chain. In the mean time, if you know of anyone doing this, please advise in "Comments."