On January 9, 2006, an individual arrested for failure to pay child support filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, challenging the Cumberland County Correctional Facility's blanket policy of strip searching every pre-trial detainee entering the jail, regardless of the crime charged and without making a determination whether there was reasonable suspicion that the detainee possessed weapons or contraband. Plaintiff, represented by private counsel, alleged that the policy was unconstitutional in that it violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Plaintiff sought monetary and injunctive relief, as well as certification of a plaintiff class consisting of all individuals who were strip searched upon their entry into the Correctional Facility after being arrested on misdemeanor, traffic, or other minor charges.

Defendants answered Plaintiff's complaint by generally denying the charges.

The PACER docket reflects that, during 2006 and 2007, the parties engaged in discovery and attended numerous status conferences before Magistrate Judge Joel Schneider. At the time of this summary, the case was still active, and no substantive motions were pending before the court.

Dan Dalton - 02/11/2008


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