|
|
| Sheriff: County jails to limit number of strip searches |
| By Fairfield Daily Republic |
| Published: 12/22/2003 |
|
In an open effort to avoid drawing legal fire, Solano County (Calif.) Sheriff Gary R. Stanton has modified his department's approach to strip searches in the county jails. The changes, formally introduced late last month, reduce the number of people who are subjected to the embarrassing personal searches such as the one experienced earlier this fall in San Francisco County by a 70-year-old Roman Catholic nun after her arrest at a peace rally. "I've been bookended," Stanton said of a series of lawsuits challenging strip searches in the county lockups in Sacramento and San Francisco. "I think the policy we've adopted strikes a good balance between inmate and officer safety and the preservation of personal dignity." But Stanton's changes may not go far enough, Sacramento attorney Mark Merin said in a recent interview. A longtime civil rights attorney, Merin has represented several clients who say they were strip-searched while jailed in both Sacramento and San Francisco counties for misdemeanor infractions. "We're still examining Solano County's new policy, but I can tell you that it appears to have flunked the first-look test," Merin said. Both California law and federal judicial rulings have made it clear those jailed for minor offenses may only be subjected to strip searches when it's abundantly clear they are violent, have a weapon or are in possession of some kind of contraband, he said. The new changes in the Solano County jail are designed to help keep an inmate's dignity in one piece, Stanton said. Previously, anyone brought to the jail could be subject to such a search. Now, only inmates actually booked into the facility and who meet a "reasonable suspicion" standard will be strip-searched and then only with a supervising officer's written consent, he added. The county's new policy also governs how and where the searches can be conducted, he said. Those who are searched will have a same-sex jailer conduct the examination and the search itself will be done in a semi-private area. Likewise, those inmates placed in the so-called "isolation" or "safety" cells following a strip search will no longer be left in the cells naked. The new policy requires the inmate be issued a T-shirt and undergarments. |
advertise
|
privacy policy
|
add URL
|
about us
|
terms/disclaimer
|
contact us
|
join our team
|
help
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think