Cross-sex strip searches ruled unconstitutional

Bob Egelko
San Francisco Chronicle
January 6, 2011

• A d v e r t i s e m e n t

A female jail guard’s strip search of a male inmate was a “humiliating event” that violated his rights, a divided federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Wednesday.

Such searches of a prisoner by a guard of the opposite sex are unconstitutional except in an emergency, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 6-5 decision.

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The ruling, in a case from Arizona, sets standards for nine Western states, including California. Dissenting judges said the court was improperly second-guessing jail officials.

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This article was posted: Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 1:11 pm

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