Add bike helmets to the list of things I’ve changed my mind about. In the past I favored mandatory helmet laws, or at least was not opposed to them. Not any more.

Not because of safety — I still think helmets are safer than the alternative.

But because of the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing strip searches for any offense. If you’re taken into custody, a strip search is in your immediate future.

I predict that this will eventually be extended from jails to police cars — if you’re placed in a police car, you’ll be strip searched.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the police. I just don’t believe that strip-searching, DNA sampling, etc etc etc should be applied to an ever-widening circle of average folks.

I also love the Supreme Court. But they’re not making laws. That’s the legislature. The bottom line is that we’ve got to stop our legislators from criminalizing behaviors that, while undesirable, simply don’t justify being taken into custody. That includes “undesirable behaviors” such as not wearing helmets — whether bicycle or motorcycle.