On May 14, 2007, two individuals who had been arrested on minor charges filed a 42 U.S.C. §1983 class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, challenging the Salem County Correctional Department's policy and practice of strip searching all detainees regardless of the nature of their charged crime and regardless of the absence of reasonable suspicion to believe the detainees were concealing weapons or contraband. Plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, alleged that this policy and practice violated the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. They requested monetary damages, declaratory and injunctive relief, and certification of a class consisting of individuals who were strip searched at the Correctional Department after being detained non-indictable offenses

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


compress summary