On Tuesday, April 3, 2012 1:49:37 PM UTC-4, Tommy News wrote:
Supreme Court Ruling Allows Strip-Searches for Any Arrest--
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: April 2, 2012
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CloseDiggRedditTumblrPermalink WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on
Monday ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that officials may strip-search people
arrested for any offense, however minor, before admitting them to
jails even if the officials have no reason to suspect the presence of
contraband.
Mel Evans/Associated Press
Albert W. Florence was strip-searched twice after being wrongly
detained over a fine.Related
Sidebar: Justices' Cerebral Combativeness on Display (April 3, 2012)
Related in Opinion
The Loyal Opposition: The Right to Strip (April 2, 2012)
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Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, joined by the court's conservative wing,
wrote that courts are in no position to second-guess the judgments of
correctional officials who must consider not only the possibility of
smuggled weapons and drugs, but also public health and information
about gang affiliations."Every detainee who will be admitted to the general population may be
required to undergo a close visual inspection while undressed,"
Justice Kennedy wrote, adding that about 13 million people are
admitted each year to the nation's jails.The procedures endorsed by the majority are forbidden by statute in at
least 10 states and are at odds with the policies of federal
authorities. According to a supporting brief filed by the American Bar
Association, international human rights treaties also ban the
procedures.The federal appeals courts had been split on the question, though most
of them prohibited strip-searches unless they were based on a
reasonable suspicion that contraband was present. The Supreme Court
did not say that strip-searches of every new arrestee were required;
it ruled, rather, that the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of
unreasonable searches did not forbid them.Daron Hall, the president of the American Correctional Association and
sheriff of Davidson County, Tenn., said the association welcomed the
flexibility offered by the decision. The association's current
standards discourage blanket strip-search policies.Monday's sharply divided decision came from a court whose ideological
differences are under intense scrutiny after last week's arguments on
President Obama's health care law. The ruling came less than two weeks
after a pair of major 5-to-4 decisions on the right to counsel in plea
negotiations, though there Justice Kennedy had joined the court's
liberal wing. The majority and dissenting opinions on Monday agreed
that the search procedures the decision allowed — close visual
inspection by a guard while naked — were more intrusive than being
observed while showering, but did not involve bodily contact.Justice Stephen G. Breyer, writing for the four dissenters, said the
strip-searches the majority allowed were "a serious affront to human
dignity and to individual privacy" and should be used only when there
was good reason to do so.Justice Breyer said that the Fourth Amendment should be understood to
bar strip-searches of people arrested for minor offenses not involving
drugs or violence, unless officials had a reasonable suspicion that
they were carrying contraband.Monday's decision endorsed a recent trend, from appeals courts in
Atlanta, San Francisco and Philadelphia, allowing strip-searches of
everyone admitted to a jail's general population. At least seven other
appeals courts, on the other hand, had ruled that such searches were
proper only if there was a reasonable suspicion that the arrested
person had contraband.According to opinions in the lower courts, people may be
strip-searched after arrests for violating a leash law, driving
without a license and failing to pay child support. Citing examples
from briefs submitted to the Supreme Court, Justice Breyer wrote that
people have been subjected to "the humiliation of a visual
strip-search" after being arrested for driving with a noisy muffler,
failing to use a turn signal and riding a bicycle without an audible
bell.A nun was strip-searched, he wrote, after an arrest for trespassing
during an antiwar demonstration.Justice Kennedy responded that "people detained for minor offenses can
turn out to be the most devious and dangerous criminals." He noted
that Timothy McVeigh, later put to death for his role in the 1995
Oklahoma City bombing, was first arrested for driving without a
license plate. "One of the terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attacks
was stopped and ticketed for speeding just two days before hijacking
Flight 93," Justice Kennedy added.The case decided Monday, Florence v. County of Burlington, No. 10-945,
arose from the arrest of Albert W. Florence in New Jersey in 2005. Mr.
Florence was in the passenger seat of his BMW when a state trooper
pulled his wife, April, over for speeding. A records search revealed
an outstanding warrant for Mr. Florence's arrest based on an unpaid
fine. (The information was wrong; the fine had been paid.)--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
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