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Are Cross-Gender Searches Unconstitutional Under the Fourth Amendment

The Ninth Circuit holds that it's reasonable under the Fourth Amendment for men to strip search women; and for women to strip search men.  while prisoners and detainees retain ?legitimate expectations of bodily privacy from persons of the opposite sex,? we are obligated to acknowledge that such rights are ?extremely limited.? Jordan, 986 F.2d at 1524. The hallmark of the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness, see, e.g., Bell, 441 U.S. at 558, and we must assess reasonableness in the context of detention settings and the intractable problems facing prison administrators, see, e.g., Turner, 482 U.S. at 84-89. We review this case in the additional light of the jury?s findings that the search was not conducted in an inappropriate manner and that it was conducted for an identified security need; the undisputed evidence of the County?s staffing issues; and the County?s existing restrictions on cross-gender contact between detention officers and inmates...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on May 18, 2009 (boomark / email).