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CA8: Facility wide strip searches for a smuggled cell phone was unreasonable as to pretrial detainees

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Involuntary civilly committed persons retain rights as civilly committed persons. The test of reasonableness is stated in Bell v. Wolfish: “The test of reasonableness ... requires a balancing of the need for the particular search against the invasion of personal rights that the search entails. Courts must consider the scope of the particular intrusion, the manner in which it is conducted, the justification for initiating it, and the place in which it is conducted.” Facility-wide visual body cavity searches for a smuggled cell phone was unreasonable. Serna v. Goodno, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 11767 (8th Cir. June 3, 2009): The scope of the overall response to the discovery of a cell-phone case, namely, the apparent rush to conduct facility-wide, visual body-cavity searches suggests a disproportionate reaction...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on June 06, 2009 (boomark / email).