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| Women Get $10m for Strip Searches at Mass. Jail |
| By Boston Globe |
| Published: 05/31/2002 |
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Four years after one woman challenged the city of Boston and the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department when she was strip-searched after being charged with drunken driving, officials yesterday agreed to pay $10 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of some 5,400 women who were routinely and illegally strip-searched over a four-year period at Nashua Street Jail. The settlement, reached after weeks of mediation, comes nearly a year after US District Judge Nancy Gertner ruled that the city and the county engaged in a blanket strip-search policy that violated the womens' constitutional rights. Traditionally, men arrested in Boston after business hours have been held in lockups at police stations, where strip-searches are not automatic. But for years, the city contracted with the Sheriff's Department to house women who were arrested after business hours and not immediately released on bail. As new arrivals at the county jail, the women were subjected to the same treatment as female inmates who had already been arraigned and were awaiting trial. They were ordered to strip naked and bend over while a female officer searched their vaginas and rectums. In 1998, Katrina Mack of Charlestown became the first woman to challenge the policy, after she was charged with drunken driving and strip-searched at the jail. Within a year, the jail changed its policy, strip-searching women not yet arraigned only when officers had probable cause to suspect they were carrying a weapon or contraband. Yesterday, the attorney for Mack and about 1,100 women who have come forward since Gertner cleared the way for a class-action suit in 2000 said he was pleased with the settlement. After initially arguing that the women had no basis for a suit, the city and sheriff's department settled the claim just days before individual damage trials were set to begin next week. ''Of course, many of the women are happy not to have to go to court and describe what they say was the most humiliating thing in their lives,'' said attorney Howard Friedman. ''That's the advantage of a class-action - the women can get compensation without having the relive the embarrassment.'' Richard Lombardi, a spokesman for the sheriff's department, said, ''We're just pleased that the settlement satisfied all the parties, and we're glad it's over.'' In a statement, Boston police said the settlement was ''a fair and equitable resolution of an exhaustive three-year litigation process, and is consistent with settlements reached in similar cases brought in other jurisdictions nationwide.'' The $10 million, to be split evenly by the city and the sheriff's department, comes as both agencies face deep budget cuts and a growing fiscal crisis. Since the lawsuit was filed, the Boston Police Department has begun holding women arrested after-hours at the new district police station in Area D. According to Lombardi, the sheriff's department will only hold women at its jail in cases of serious overcrowding. In those cases, women will be searched only if officers have probable cause. |
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