Blanket strip search of juveniles case survives summary judgment

Blanket strip search policy of juvenile detention center survived summary judgment. This case presents interesting summaries of the summary judgment material that shows the potential psychological damage to a juvenile from a strip search. The search of the plaintiff occurred long after introduction into the detention facility. Also, circuit law was unclear, but there was a 1981 case favoring plaintiff and there were three cases from other district courts in other circuits in point that the court used to show the claim was valid. This is a lengthy opinion developed from what appears to be a particularly strident response from the defendants on summary judgment. Moyle v. County of Contra Costa, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89509 (N.D. Cal. December 5, 2007):

While the Court agrees that the circumstances in Flores did not present the sort of difficult security issues faced by Contra Costa Juvenile Hall, it concludes, nonetheless, that Defendants’ evidence falls short of establishing the constitutionality of blanket strip searches–both upon intake and after returning from visits with individuals who were not employed by Juvenile Hall. With respect to the strip searches that were conducted upon admission to Juvenile Hall, there has been no showing that the contraband listed in the contraband log was seized from juveniles like Ermitano, whose crime did not involve violence, drugs, or weapons. Further, in the face of Plaintiffs’ evidence that this contraband could have been detected through the use of pat searches and a metal detector, Defendants have offered no evidence showing that the more intrusive strip search was required. Nor have they pointed to evidence that any of the contraband listed on the logs was concealed in a body cavity. Similarly, with respect to the strip searches conducted after visits with probation counselors and parents, there has been no showing that strip searches are necessary to protect the children at Juvenile Hall. Indeed, the possibility that contraband or weapons might be given to juveniles by probation counselors seems particularly unlikely.

Plaintiff’s claim was precluded by the outcome of a bench trial for a petty offense, and it was also Heck barred. Gilbert v. Isham, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89406 (W.D. Va. December 5, 2007).*

“[T]he blocking of the defendant’s Chevy to determine the identity of the occupants and maintain the status quo while obtaining this information was a warrantless Terry seizure, that Officer Williams had reasonable suspicion justifying that seizure, and the search of the vehicle was constitutionally reasonable.” United States v. See, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89448 (N.D. Ohio December 5, 2007).*