A Wise Decision on Strip Searches

A federal appeals court has ruled unconstitutional any strip search by police unless they have reason to suspect that a person in custody is hiding drugs or weapons.

In any other circumstance, the court ruled, body-cavity searches are simply “dehumanizing and humiliating,” a judgment we applaud.

The case involved a woman, Karen Kennedy, who hid as security a television set and two chairs belonging to a roommate who walked out, leaving $694 worth of rent and utility bills in dispute. Kennedy was arrested, booked on suspicion of grand theft--a felony because the property was valued at $400 or more--and subjected to a body-cavity search by Los Angeles police at a Van Nuys jail. She filed suit against the officers and the city, won the case and was awarded $39,000. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision upheld that verdict.

As 9th Circuit Judge Cynthia Holcomb Hall pointed out, “No weapons, no drugs, no contraband, no violent acts of any kind were involved.”

California law allows body-cavity searches on felony charges, but limits the practice on misdemeanors to charges involving weapons, drugs or violence. In the wake of the ruling, the state Legislature will want to consider extending that limit to felony cases.

In drafting new policies to conform to the ruling, police in Los Angeles and other parts of the state will want to consider the New York Police Department’s guidelines, which authorize strip searches only when an arresting officer has probable cause to suspect that a person is hiding weapons, contraband or evidence that may not be discovered by frisking or emptying pockets.

Strip searches are certainly a legitimate police practice as authorities try to stem the increasing flow of drugs, particularly when the drugs are flowing into jails. Body-cavity searches are also warranted to protect police and other prisoners. But, in many cases the searches are unnecessary, and, as the federal appeals court has affirmed, unconstitutional.