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| Fulton County sheriff sued over jail issues |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/26/2004 |
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Four Fulton County (Ga.) Jail inmates have filed a federal lawsuit claiming Sheriff Jackie Barrett allows inmates to be held days after they should be released and permits illegal strip searches of every detainee. The suit filed last Wednesday seeks class-action status on behalf of more than 10,000 people who it claims have been detained too long at the jail and subjected to unjustified searches. In recent years, similar class-action lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles and Washington. The Los Angeles case resulted in a $27 million settlement. The case in Washington is being mediated. The Atlanta lawsuit says all defendants being taken into custody at the jail are subjected to strip searches, regardless of whether authorities have reason to believe a detainee has contraband. "I don't object to strip-searching somebody if there's a basis for it, but the law says you can't just strip-search everybody like a cattle call," said William Claiborne, a Washington lawyer in the lawsuit. "It's degrading. It's humiliating." The suit also lists more than 200 people who were released in March and April from one to 12 days later than they should have been. "That person is free, but they are bound and shackled like any other prisoner," Claiborne said. Fulton County Attorney O.V. Brantley said she had yet to see the lawsuit. "We'll review it and defend it," she said. The suit is the latest problem for Barrett, the first black woman elected sheriff in the nation. Barrett, 53, who took office in 1992, is also under investigation by federal authorities over questionable investments made with $7.2 million in county funds under her supervision. |
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