3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals Allows Blanket Strip Search
By Jamie Aldridge |
Fri, 24 Sep 2010
Following decisions by the 11th and 9th Circuit Courts of Appeal both sitting en banc, the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals on 21 September, 2010 reversed prior precedents requiring perceived reasonable suspicion prior to conducting strip searches on intake into a jail or detention facilities.
The 11th and 9th Circuits held that Bell v. Wolfish authorizes a policy of blanket strip searches for all arrestees entering the general population of a jail. Like the 9th and 11th Circuit Courts, the 3rd in a two to one decision concluded that the security interest in preventing smuggling at the time of intake is as strong as the interests in preventing smuggling after the contact visits at issue in Bell. The panel rejected plaintiff’s argument that blanket strip searches are unreasonable because jails have little interest in strip searching arrestees charged with non-indictable offenses. The court concluded that this argument cannot be squared with the facts and law of Bell which explicitly rejected any distinction and security risk based on the reason for detention. Further, Bell did not require individualized suspicion for each inmate strip searched. The absence of an individualized suspicion requirement in Bell is consistent with the Fourth Amendment doctrine of special needs searches.
Furthermore, the court concluded that a jail’s blanket strip search policy will help to avoid potential equal protection concerns in a strip search process as it removes officer discretion in selecting which arrestees to search. The potential for abuse in a reasonable suspicion approach is high, particularly where reasonable suspicion may be based on such subjective characteristics as the arrestees’ appearance and conduct at the time of arrest.
This search will surely be followed by a request for a hearing en banc. Also, given the split in the Circuit Courts, it is likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will take a case for review to resolve the issue. Local jails, prisons, and police lock-ups should continue to follow this issue.
To read the Bell vs. Wolfish court decision click here.
