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The rights of detainees

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

Editorial: Daily Hampshire Gazette Northampton, MA The rights of detainees 05/21/2008 The Franklin County Jail has been sued by a man who says he was strip-searched twice before his court arraignment after being arrested for allegedly failing to pay excise taxes. While both sides are due their day in court, one issue is not in dispute: Prior to the construction of a new Franklin County jail, the sheriff routinely conducted strip-searches of all detainees, except for those in protective custody. The case is remarkably similar to a class-action suit that was filed against the Hampshire County sheriff for pre-trial strip-searches; the Hampshire sheriff eventually agreed to a $205,000 settlement last year to resolve the case. In both cases, the sheriffs should have taken the extra step of separating those awaiting trial from the rest of their detainees, which would have eliminated the need for across-the-board strip-searches...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on May 21, 2008 (boomark / email).