This dragnet needs to be canceled soon

What's next? Police standing outside movie theaters to check IDs of those wanting to see a flick?

Let us be clear from the start: we wholeheartedly want our law enforcement authorities catching child support cheats, unregistered sex offenders and other criminals ducking due process.

But the rule of law so vital to our democratic society demands that the law follow some rules.

We are alarmed at the revelation Daily Herald Staff Writer Rob Olmstead uncovered recently that our state police for some time have been randomly checking casino patrons to see if they are considered criminals. What's next? Police standing outside movie theaters to check IDs of those wanting to see a flick? Setting up blockades at the local shopping mall to check license plates and IDs before we shop?

This seems on its face a violation of civil liberties. It smacks of Big Brother getting bigger and bigger.

Make no mistake, we are happy to see the state's gaming board and state police are following through to try to ensure those who have acknowledged they are chronic gamblers do not get into the state's gambling venues. Three years after a vote, police finally began actively checking to see whether those entering casinos had placed themselves voluntarily on a self-exclusion list that now contains more than 5,000 people. But the mission is to keep them from gambling, not to do criminal background checks.

We're also perplexed about why the gaming board and state police started this venture only by checking IDs for people who looked under age 30. Only late last year, board members proposed a universal check that still has not been instituted. The state would seem to possibly be opening itself up to age discrimination litigation by only checking younger patrons, but perhaps the volunteer nature of the list limits that possibility.

When Olmstead asked, neither the gaming board spokesman nor the state police spokesman could say how many patrons randomly are being checked for outstanding warrants or other criminal matters. The police also could not or would not say how many unregistered sex offenders or other criminals they've caught in this dragnet.

Illinois State Police Spokesman Master Sgt. Luis Gutierrez said the checks were being done "for public safety issues." What does that mean? That rationale could be offered as an answer to just about any question anyone would ever want to ask the state police.

Tom Swoik, director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association, rightly notes his state-approved industry is being subjected to a burden placed on few others and it was done without any prior notification.

Illinois' current gaming board chairman, Aaron Jaffe, a former circuit court judge, also wasn't aware of these checks. He questioned their constitutionality and vowed to investigate.

We suggest a return to the rule of law swiftly.