Strip-searching every jail inmate goes too far

A federal appeals court recently ruled that corrections officers in a county jail can strip-search everyone, even low-level offenders who don’t pose a risk. This misguided decision is a big setback to a class-action lawsuit by former inmates, which had received support from five of New Jersey’s former attorneys general.

What it means in practice: Say you forget to pay an outstanding traffic ticket, and have the misfortune of being arrested and taken to county jail. You will be brought into a private room with a corrections officer of the same gender and ordered to take off all your clothes. As you stand naked, you must open your mouth and lift your tongue. The officer checks under your armpits and the bottoms of your feet.
If you are a man, you must lift your testicles so the officer can look beneath them. Women must lift their breasts. All inmates are told to squat and cough.
It can be a traumatic and humiliating experience, and the state Attorney General’s Office should put a stop to it. Strip-searches shouldn’t be imposed on defendants accused of misdemeanors without reasonable suspicion that they pose a threat.
That’s what a federal judge ruled last year, calling it unconstitutional to strip-search inmates without cause. The case in point was Albert Florence, 34, of Bordentown, a finance director who sued after being picked up for an outstanding traffic warrant and strip-searched — twice — before authorities realized he had already paid the fine two years before. Oops.
But the recent appellate decision overturned the judge’s ruling, concluding officers can strip-search everyone to keep jails safe.
That’s ridiculous. As the federal judge who opposed the practice pointed out, “a hypothetical priest or minister arrested for allegedly skimming the Sunday collection would be subjected to the same degrading procedure as a gang member arrested on an allegation of drug charges.”
Strip searches are justified for dangerous inmates or those arrested on drug charges. They shouldn’t be a catch-all welcome to the county jail.