On October 25, 1990, Plaintiff filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and New Hampshire law against the Chief of the Durham Police Department, two police sergeants, one police officer, the supervisor of the Strafford County House of Correction, two correctional sergeants, and one correctional ...
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On October 25, 1990, Plaintiff filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and New Hampshire law against the Chief of the Durham Police Department, two police sergeants, one police officer, the supervisor of the Strafford County House of Correction, two correctional sergeants, and one correctional officer in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Plaintiff, represented by private counsel, alleged Defendants strip-searched her in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
On October 22, 1988, Plaintiff was taken into protective custody because she was intoxicated. Plaintiff was strip-searched according to Strafford County House of Correction (SCHC) policy which required that all arrestees be strip-searched. The officers had no specific suspicion that she concealed contraband.
On April 26, 1993, Plaintiff filed a motion for partial summary judgment as to her 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim against Defendant Strafford County.
On August 24, 1993, the District Court (Senior Judge Shane Devine) granted partial summary judgment to Plaintiff as to her 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim against Defendant Strafford County. The Court held: (1) Defendants' strip search policy violated the Fourth Amendment because it did not require individualized suspicion that detainees were concealing contraband, and (2) strip search of Plaintiff violated the Fourth Amendment.
Kidd v. Gowen, 829 F.Supp. 16 (D.N.H. 1993).
On February 24, 1994, the remainder of the case settled.
Shira Gordon - 03/24/2012
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