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N.D. Cal. sets standards for strip searches in the field

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

N.D. Cal. sets standards for strip searches occuring in the field, away from a jail or police station. Foster v. City of Oakland, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24610 (N.D. Cal. March 27, 2008): What is not clear is the extent to which a strip search may be conducted in the field. There is no case law suggesting that such a search may be performed in the absence of an arrest. All of the cases are premised on there being an arrest, not merely a detention or a stop for questioning. An arrest must be based on probable cause and may thus justify some type of search depending on the circumstances. However, detentions and stops that are short of an actual arrest will not support a strip search or, indeed, any kind of search except for a Terry search when the standards of Terry v...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 31, 2008 (boomark / email).