Random Coast Guard Boardings, are they Consitutional?

I found an article about the US Coast Guard's unlimited power and right to board any vessel at anytime for any reason and conduct a complete search without a warrant.
www.sailfeed.com...

The US Coast Guard can board your boat any time they want, and look anywhere they want, without probable cause or a warrant. They can do this on the open sea, or while you’re asleep aboard in your marina at midnight. They can look through your bedsheets, in your lockers, in your bilges, in your jewelry box, or in your pockets. They can do it carrying just their sidearms, or they can do it carrying assault rifles.

If you’re an avid boater you can expect to be boarded every year or two.

The U.S. Coast Guard Boarding Policy: Title 14 section 89 of the United States Code authorizes the U.S. Coast Guard to board vessels subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, anytime, any place upon the high seas and upon any waterway over which the United States has jurisdiction, to make inquires, examinations, inspections, searches, seizures, and arrests. The U.S. Coast Guard does not require a warrant to conduct search, seizures, arrests over any United States Waterway or high seas. The U.S. Coast Guard also have full legal law enforcement power on any land under the control of the United States, as needed to complete any mission.

Since 9/11, the USCG became a part of the DHS. Since then the number of boardings and searches has increased dramatically. I've been told by a Coast Guard Auxiliary member that on a boating trip around Florida my chances of being boarded by the USCG are greater than 50%. I also know of two people who have recently been assaulted and arrested by the USCG in South Florida under questionable circumstances.

Many people outside the boating world are blind to this issue, and some boaters even blindly support the Coast Guard's actions. I feel powerless.

Is there anything the citizen can do to prevent this abuse of power? Or we just to sit back and watch the Constitution burn?

reply to post by jrod


I think if they are random it is, or if they have evidence you have committed a felony.

Searching for drug smugglers and illegal aliens trying to gain entry to the US or our waters, Ive heard also they can support efforts in International waters as well.
Does anyone know?

Originally posted by jrod
I also know of two people who have recently been assaulted and arrested by the USCG in South Florida under questionable circumstances.

I'd like to hear more about this.....

reply to post by mysterioustranger


Yes they can board foreign vessels at any time for any reason without cause and that is especially true of counter drug and terrorism efforts. Since being absorbed into DHS they are no longer under SECNAV command and are a purely law enforcement agency so I am quite sure they have all the unconstitutional powers of DHS now.

They also can, or could operate in international and foreign waters when acting in a support role for the DEA and DOD. When I was involved in operations in Panama back in '96 they were offshore acting in a support role for us, mainly extraction support that was correlated with the DOD and Dept. of Navy.

I'm not sure exactly how that would work now being under DHS, though I doubt it's changed much.

reply to post by Nucleardiver


Copy that. 10-4 sir. Thanks

When you are on the water you are required to have certain safety equipment on the boat (to include enough life jackets for every person on board). The Coast Guard can board you for a safety check to determine if you have the equipment required, and if they find anything else, they can then arrest you.

Hardly a new circumstance.....most such orgs have this power.......
The hook is that now they are controlled by the DHS
This sinister conglomeration is the new Stazi in America.....the org through which totalitarian control of the country will be administered.

Originally posted by stirling
Hardly a new circumstance.....most such orgs have this power.......
The hook is that now they are controlled by the DHS
This sinister conglomeration is the new Stazi in America.....the org through which totalitarian control of the country will be administered.

Yeah DHS is going to pull the Coast Guard off its boats, the Secret Service from the White House, TSA from the airports and the boder patrol, customs and immigration people from the borders and smush them all together to take over the country. It is amazing how little people at ATS know about DHS, what it is or how it works. When the Secret Service, Customs, Border Patrol and Coast Guard were under Treasury nobody seemed alll that scared of them. But add TSA, Immigration and few others and a new name and suddenly the fringe has a new boogey man. I feel sorry for FEMA, NWO and the UN who have now been tossed aside in favor of DHS.

Originally posted by mysterioustranger
Searching for drug smugglers and illegal aliens trying to gain entry to the US or our waters, Ive heard also they can support efforts in International waters as well.
Does anyone know?

The Coast Guard and any other law enforcement can board your vessel at anytime. I've been living aboard a sailboat for the past 3 years so I find this a bit of a privacy violation. It is one thing if I'm coming back from a foreign country but for a militarized police force to take command of my vessel and search through everything I have because they are searching for terrorist, illegal aliens, illegal weapons, illegal fish, illegal drugs, safety violations, ect. is a bit draconian in my opinion. I can be anywhere including international waters for a random boarding.

I do know maritime law better than most of the Coast Guard personal, I do know my rights I have to for my own protection. I just don't think they should be given endless power over tax paying citizens.

reply to post by jrod

Thanks for the reply. I lived in Miami for 5 years awhile back, and it was getting tough then to sail or boat anywhere without some kind of boarding harrassment. I mean, I was glad they were doing their jobs to keep us all safe, but still.

Another thing: If I carried a firearm...pistol, long gun, shotgun or revolver, but had or even DIDNT have a license to carry it...on what basis CAN one carry them on watercraft when traveling say...back and forth from Key West to the Bahamas? It sure isnt safe to just go carryfree and hope for the best.

There are a lot of crazies out there. And on the open seas...youre on your own pretty much until you can get some help...which could take awhile...and you could be dead by then.

Thanks so much for the answer, and again for perhaps addressing this question as well.

Best, MS

reply to post by mysterioustranger


I've only been boarded by the Coast Guard once in the ICW. Never been boarded while out on the blue water. I always have a firearm on my boat and do not have a CCW which is perfectly legal, the only time I'd need a CCW is to carry on land with a loaded gun. I have heard stories where they have handcuffed everyone on board as soon as you declare you have a firearm, then they run the serial numbers, and everyone else's SS number through the system. The Coast Guard was fair to me and I was respectful to them.

I've heard South Florida/Miami they aren't so nice and out to arrest people. Also Saint Augustine has been a spot where I've heard they are out to get people. I can't really go into details right now about those who were arrested in South Florida but I know it happens. If you get arrested you will be assaulted by whoever arrests you, that is just the way it is in America.

The only issues I had was with City of Cocoa Beach who boarded by boat while she was on anchor when I wasn't there. They know better know, they also now know their law against living aboard is not enforceable.

Originally posted by mysterioustranger
reply to post by jrod

 

Another thing: If I carried a firearm...pistol, long gun, shotgun or revolver, but had or even DIDNT have a license to carry it...on what basis CAN one carry them on watercraft when traveling say...back and forth from Key West to the Bahamas? It sure isnt safe to just go carryfree and hope for the best.

Also about the firearm issue, in Florida you are allowed to carry if you fishing. Also shots from a gun(one shot every minute) is an internationally recognized distress signal. As long as you are not a felon, an addict, or violent criminal you can carry a firearm on your vessel. The Bahamas has strict gun laws, but I'm pretty sure you are okay so long as you don't bring your guns to shore.

reply to post by jrod

Thanks jrod. You cleared that up quite nicely! Peace...MS

reply to post by jrod


I lived on a 41' Morgan Out Island for 3 years before I met my wife and got married, was moored at Clearwater and mostly Pensacola when I worked offshore, and spent a almost a year in the Caribbean and loved it. I was boarded a couple of times coming back from the islands by the Coast Guard but most of the time they were really nice and never went crazy with their searches, it was mostly safety and equipment checks.

I did get boarded by the Marine Patrol once coming back in from Bimini and they were jerks but I'm sure it had something to do with the 40 some odd lobster and Stone Crab I had in the coolers with holes in them from the spears.

My ex-brother in law has a commercial license and he was with and after a few heated moments they were fine. We explained that we had been in the islands for a few days, showed them our prior course on the chart plotter and GPS and they realized that the lobster hadn't came from Florida waters. Of course even in the islands that would have got us in some trouble now days.

There are times I miss the freedom of living on my boat, especially the last 2 winters when it was 40 below, but with the size of my family now I'd need a 80 footer or more. I stll have my MC Scow cat-rig and take it out on the lakes here to help get my fix for "wind".