GEO group to pay restitution to strip-searched inmates

The $2.9 million settlement awards up to $400 each to about 10,000 inmates at six GEO Group facilities

By Mari A. Schaefer
The Philadelphia Inquirer

THORNTON, Pa. — A company that formerly operated the Delaware County Prison has settled a federal class-action lawsuit involving strip-searches of incoming inmates charged with minor crimes.

The $2.9 million settlement awards up to $400 each to about 10,000 inmates at six GEO Group facilities.

Prisoners at the Delaware County facility, now operated by Community Education Centers of West Caldwell, N.J., who were strip-searched between Jan. 30, 2006, and Jan. 30, 2008, may be eligible for settlement awards.

The lawsuit named five other GEO Group prisons, in Texas, New Mexico, and Illinois.

"As a direct result of this litigation, GEO has changed its strip-search policies in those prisons which it still operates," an attorney for the plaintiffs, Joseph G. Sauder of Haverford, said in an e-mail.

A call seeking comment from the Florida-based GEO Group, which operated the prison until December 2008, was not returned.

John A. Reilly, superintendent of the prison, when asked about the current strip-search policy, said, "I have no idea. See you." He then hung up.

"In our view, there is simply no justification for this kind of invasive body search for those individuals coming to the institution who pose no security risk to the institution," said David Rudovsky, a Philadelphia lawyer who also represented a plaintiff in the case.

Those eligible to apply for settlement include prisoners who were not accused of drug, weapons, or violent crimes; those involving probation or parole violations; and those who did not behave in a manner that would give guards cause to conduct strip searches.

According to court documents, one of the main plaintiffs, Penny Allison of Media, was arrested in November 2005 for driving under the influence and was placed in a first-time offenders program. Allison failed to appear for a hearing and a bench warrant was issued. She was stopped by Springfield police for an expired registration in July 2006, arrested, and then transferred to the prison.

While being searched, a female corrections officer looked at Allison's bra and remarked, "Nice bra," according to court documents. The bra was not returned upon her release eight days later, the documents said.

Allison was arrested in December 2007 and pleaded guilty to a second DUI, records said. She was sentenced to 15 weekends and strip-searched upon entering the prison.

"During these strip searches, the corrections officer brings all of the weekend females into a classroom-size room and strip-searches them one by one in front of all the other females," court documents said of the Delaware County facility.