A blanket policy requiring strip searches of pre-arraignment detainees for jail classification, regardless of severity of charge and without reasonable suspicion, is unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment. In this class action suit, detainees challenged the San Francisco jail policy of conducting strip searches of all arrestees who were classified for housing in the general jail population prior to their arraignment. The court ruled that the policy was unconstitutional because it did not consider individualized factors and allowed the extremely invasive search solely on the basis of classification for housing in the general population.
Case Summaries