On July 24, 2009, an inmate at the Susquehanna County Jail filed a putative class action complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The plaintiff sued the County of Susquehanna under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for alleged violations of the Fourth Amendment. Specifically, the plaintiff challenged the Susquehanna Prison policy of delousing, showering and strip-searching all inmates, regardless of the nature of their charged crime or the likelihood that the individual was concealing a weapon or contraband. The plaintiff, represented by private counsel, sought declaratory and injunctive relief, monetary damages, and class certification.

Although the case was initially assigned to Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie, it was later reassigned to Chief Judge Yvette Kane and then to Judge A. Richard Caputo.

The parties sought class-action status for a statewide class of those who were strip-searched after being charged with minor violations or misdemeanors in the judicial district.

Meanwhile, as litigation in this case continued, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that blanket strip search policies were constitutional.
Florence v. Bd. of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington, 621 F.3d 296 (3d Cir. 2010).

In light of the new holding, the plaintiff sought class certifications for two new classes pertaining solely to the delousing portion of the strip search procedure. The plaintiffs claimed that the delousing policy was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment and that it violated the detainees' rights to refuse unwanted medical treatments under the Fourteenth Amendment.

On October 5, 2011, Judge Caputo certified the Fourteenth Amendment Class but denied the Fourth Amendment Class, on the grounds that the court in Florence held that the strip search procedures, including the delousing portion, were reasonable. 621 F.3d 296. The liability class consisted of all people who had been placed into the custody of the Susquehanna County Jail after being sentenced or as pre-trial detainees who were deloused upon their entry into Susquehanna County Jail. The defendants appealed this decision, but the Court of Appeals denied the petition to appeal the order. Extensive discovery followed between 2012-2013.

On September 13, 2013, Judge Caputo granted the Defendant’s motion for summary judgment with respect to the constitutionality of the delousing policy. The Court reasoned that the state had a legitimate interest in maintaining a sanitary facility, that the policy was reasonable, and accommodating inmates’ right to refuse the treatment would substantially burden the defendant. 2013 WL 5201571.

The case is now closed.

Averyn Lee - 02/08/2019


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