So what is the “administrative need” if I decide (even mid-search) to not get on the plane and so anything I may be carrying leaves with me? It can’t be because of my luggage because that is searched separately.
You might be testing security, so see what you can get through, and realize you are going to get caught, so wish to abort.
You might be trying to smuggle through something illegal and realize you have made someone take notice of you, and wish to leave before being caught with the illegal materials.
You might have checked baggage with something in it that you are hoping will get past its security screen, then looking for an excuse to bail on the flight. Your baggage might already be loaded. Certainly tracking down one bag in the process of being loaded is much more complicated than normal baggage claim procedures.
You might be trying to ditch your mother-in-law by sending her through security, then changing your mind and deciding not to fly. 
#1 So if I’m going into a government building where searches are being conducted and I leave the line, they can search me without consent?
#2 So if I see a DWI checkpoint and I make a legal U-turn to avoid it (AFAIK it is legal to do so), they can search my car without consent?
#3 This makes no sense. Check your bag with little time before the flight. Turnaround and leave airport. Why even go into the TSA line?
These don’t apply: He didn’t attempt to leave the line, or make a U-turn to avoid getting in a line. He attempted to leave in the middle of a search.
That is true in this case but as part of the overall picture, my understanding is that if you leave the line even before the search area, you are still subject to search. The issue with the guy being searched then “There’s nothing in my pocket.” then withdrawing consent I think would have more to do with TSA having a reasonable suspicion at that time that it may be a firearm, other weapon or explosive. My question is that based on the way the ruling was written, administrative searches must fill an administrative need. Irishman’s list of administrative needs if a person leaves the line early could apply to other areas outside of airport security and the question is would searches be legal in those scenarios.
I ain’t a lawyer, but my understanding is that any police (or similar) authority can conduct a (legal) search under circumstances that might warrant it. E.g., a man wearing a mask approaches a schoolyard full of children puts his hand inside his coat (Napoleon-style) and yells “I’m going to kill you all!” – a nearby officer can restrain and search. The guy could challenge it later in court, of course, but that’s ex post facto.
First you ask about mid search, then when I answer, you talk about prior to getting in line for the search.
I’m no legal expert. Perhaps a lawyer or cop can clarify the rules for stop, question, and frisk, or whatever.
I know and my point I think the “we can search you” can occur even if you leave the line before getting to the front which has no bearing on this case. I was picking up on the “administrative need” in the ruling and how that applies to people that change their mind and choose not to go through TSA
In this particular case, the court ruled that leaving a security line at the airport is an “administrative need”. This may or may not apply in other situations. For example, some clubs search people. I am in line, and I leave. Can a police officer stop me and search me out of that special administrative need? What about a train station? Or a courthouse?
My theory is that the ruling has something to do with you having purchased an airline ticket, and if you don’t go through the security line, you’re forfeiting the value of the ticket. That is not standard behavior (Dang! that security line is long today, I guess I won’t use my $400 ticket and see if the line is shorter next week).
Or, that the Supreme Court no longer believes in a right to privacy and that you can be searched anytime any government agent damn feels like it.
If a passenger doesn’t board a flight, her checked bags are removed from the plane. I’ve been on several planes whose departure was delayed while waiting for the airline to remove bags of people who didn’t board. IIRC this was the case even before 9/11.
I’ve had my checked bags fly on planes I wasn’t on.
Latest incident was last year. Weather delays and “maintenance issues” (or worker strikes and slowdowns) caused me to be in a mess on a flight from Ohio through DFW with a plane transfer and then hop to Houston. My flight from Ohio was delayed, but DFW was running hugely behind because of weather. They got my checked bag on the first flight after we landed, but I couldn’t make the transfer and had a spot reserved on the next shuttle flight.
Except that shuttle flight kept getting delayed because of “maintenance issues” and they reassigned us through three different airplanes across three separate gates at the terminal before I gave up and told them I wasn’t flying with them.
At least one previous incident where once again I had a transfer from flights and my bag made it on an earlier flight than I did. That one was pre-9/11.