You never have to submit to a search if you are not under arrest. They can pat you down to make sure you don't have weapons. But if they look in your purse without arresting you or a warrant, you have either volunteered to let them look, or they are breaking the law and it is illegal search and seisure. (4th Ammendment) The problem is in this post 911 America the Patriot Act give LE the right to ignore the constitution in a lot of situations. Originally Posted by rekcaSxTActually, the 4th Amendment protections against illegal search and seizure aren't that black and white. The 4th Amendment provides “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
However, certain standards exist as a means of judging the conduct of governmental actors against the protections afforded by the 4th Amendment: probable cause, reasonable suspicion, and reasonableness.
The standard most likely to apply in the discussion at hand is reasonable suspicion, a fairly recent standard which recognized that under certain exigencies of time and place, police officers may conduct a limited seizure and search with less than probable cause. (Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) Reasonable suspicion may be invoked for a warrantless search or seizure if, "in the totality of the circumstances at hand, public interests outweigh the minimal loss of personal freedom of movement and privacy imposed in a manner limited in time and nature."
You don't necessarily have to submit to a search if you haven't been arrested, but that doesn't mean that the police aren't allowed to search you unless you've been arrested. In addition, if you are arrested, police are allowed under the 4th Amendment to search the "grabbable area" around you, or anything and everything within your reach. This loophole exists partially to protect police from any potential weapons while they are arresting you, but it's important to note that your purse or any other personal items might be subject to search even if the police do not have a search warrant.
