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| Suit filed on strip searches by DYS |
| By Boston Globe |
| Published: 01/05/2004 |
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A lawsuit is challenging the legality of a state Department of Youth Services policy that allows routine strip searches of minors in the custody of the agency whenever they leave a secure facility to go to court, see a doctor, or visit with a family member. "The policy requires a visual body cavity inspection of a juvenile's genitals and anus," the lawsuit states. "And these searches are conducted routinely, without any reason to suspect or probable cause to believe that the juvenile possesses drugs, weapons, or other contraband." The suit, filed in federal court in Boston on behalf of a 16-year-old identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, alleges that she was routinely strip-searched during her stay at the DYS facility in Brockton's YMCA. Named as defendants are Ronald Preston, secretary of the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services; DYS Commissioner Michael Bolden, and "certain unknown employees of DYS." Mary Sylva, chief of staff for DYS, referred questions to the attorney general's office, where lawyers declined to comment on the case. In court documents, lawyers representing Preston and Bolden acknowledged that the defendant had been strip-searched in accordance with DYS policy, but denied that she "was subjected to visual body cavity searches." The 16-year-old, who was later acquitted of charges of assault and battery and mayhem, "suffered extreme emotional distress as a result of the strip searches and visual body cavity searches," the suit alleges. Patrick T. Jones, one of several lawyers working on the case, said they are seeking class-action certification. If a judge grants the request, the case could ultimately involve as many as 1,000 minors, he said. The suit was filed in October, after Suffolk County and Boston reached a $10 million settlement with women who said they had been illegally strip-searched at the Nashua Street Jail. A DYS document outlining the policy on strip searches, filed by the defendants' lawyers with court documents, states that "the purpose of this policy is to establish appropriate safety and security procedures for the transportation of DYS clients." |
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