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| Women Sue Sacramento Jail Over Strip Searches |
| By KCRA |
| Published: 10/28/2002 |
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Several women are suing the Sacramento main jail, saying they've been subjected to illegal strip searches. But the Sheriff's Department says it has to search inmates as a matter of safety and security. The women say they were clearly no threat to security when they were arrested for minor, nonviolent offenses, including environmental protests and financial crimes. And they say their dignity was assaulted in the jail, and that it's been happening for years. An inmate who wanted to go by the name Jane was booked in August in to the jail for writing a bad check. It was her first offense. She says she was humiliated by what happened in the jailhouse. 'They tell you bend over, cough, spread them. It's awful,' Jane said. 'You totally feel violated. It's very humiliating to me. The woman who helped start the lawsuit was arrested for protesting logging policies two years ago. She and six other women were strip searched at the same time in the same room. 'The women were told to stand in the footprints, bend over, spread their labia and buttocks as far apart as possible and cough three times,' said protester Mary Bull. The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department says that inmates smuggle in weapons and drugs, and that the risk of not searching everyone is too great. But they also say there is a system to make sure the searches are done with sensitivity. 'Female officers on female inmates, male officer's on male inmates. There is no contact. It is a visual search,' said Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. James Lewis. Mark Merin is the attorney bringing what is now a class-action lawsuit, representing thousands of nonviolent, non drug-related inmates who have been searched, he says, in direct violation of state law. |
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