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| Girl sues juvenile hall for alleged abuse |
| By Fairfield Daily Republic |
| Published: 05/02/2005 |
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A vulnerable 14-year-old girl who was stripped, humiliated, physically violated and held captive against her will in Fairfield, Calif., has turned to the federal courts seeking justice for what she claims she endured. Her alleged assailants are the staff of Solano County's jvenile hall. Police took the girl into custody in October 2003, not for committing any crime, but because she was a runaway, according to her lawsuit filed last week. Cops took her to Solano County's juvenile hall, where staff conducted a routine strip search and cavity search looking for weapons or contraband such as drugs. The girl claims she was strip-searched several times during her time at the hall, according to court records. The girl, her custodial parent and their lawyer, Mark E. Merin, claim routine strip searches violated state law and juveniles' constitutional rights. The lawsuit seeks to include any juvenile who within the last two years underwent a strip search or cavity search at the juvenile hall while being held for minor law violations. There are likely thousands of them, Merin said. Each juvenile eventually named in the lawsuit could be eligible for compensation as high as $5,000 if his clients prevail, he added. The lawsuit names juvenile hall superintendent Gladys Moore and Gemma Grossi, the county's chief probation officer, as codefendants for their role in maintaining policies about searching youths held at the hall. The Probation Department oversees operation of the hall. The policy on when and why strip searches may take place at the hall has changed at least twice since 2003, most recently two weeks ago, said Kimberly Alexander, a deputy county counsel. County officials don't typically comment on specific ongoing litigation. Merin participated in a similar class action lawsuit against the Sacramento County jail involving its strip-search policy. That lawsuit settled last year with the county agreeing to pay between $1,000 and $3,500 to 16,000 former jail inmates. The settlement, which could cost the county $15 million, was the highest settlement in county history. A similar lawsuit against Sacramento's juvenile hall involving a 15-year-old girl was initiated last year by Merin. That case, which includes the same girl in Solano County lawsuit, is pending. |
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