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Strip Searches Legal For Any Arrest.

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that officials may strip-search people arrested for any offense, however minor, before admitting them to jails even if the officials have no reason to suspect the presence of contraband.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that officials may strip-search people arrested for any offense, however minor, before admitting them to jails even if the officials have no reason to suspect the presence of contraband.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, joined by the court’s conservative wing, wrote that courts are in no position to second-guess the judgments of correctional officials who must consider not only the possibility of smuggled weapons and drugs, but also public health and information about gang affiliations.

“Every detainee who will be admitted to the general population may be required to undergo a close visual inspection while undressed,” Justice Kennedy wrote, adding that about 13 million people are admitted each year to the nation’s jails.

The procedures endorsed by the majority are forbidden by statute in at least 10 states and are at odds with the policies of federal authorities. According to a supporting brief filed by the American Bar Association, international human rights treaties also ban the procedures.

The federal appeals courts had been split on the question, though most of them prohibited strip-searches unless they were based on a reasonable suspicion that contraband was present. The Supreme Court did not say that strip-searches of every new arrestee were required; it ruled, rather, that the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of unreasonable searches did not forbid them.

Daron Hall, the president of the American Correctional Association and sheriff of Davidson County, Tenn., said the association welcomed the flexibility offered by the decision. The association’s current standards discourage blanket strip-search policies.

Monday’s sharply divided decision came from a court whose ideological differences are under intense scrutiny after last week’s arguments on President Obama’s health care law. The ruling came less than two weeks after a pair of major 5-to-4 decisions on the right to counsel in plea negotiations, though there Justice Kennedy had joined the court’s liberal wing. The majority and dissenting opinions on Monday agreed that the search procedures the decision allowed — close visual inspection by a guard while naked — were more intrusive than being observed while showering, but did not involve bodily contact.

Justice Stephen G. Breyer, writing for the four dissenters, said the strip-searches the majority allowed were “a serious affront to human dignity and to individual privacy” and should be used only when there was good reason to do so.

Justice Breyer said that the Fourth Amendment should be understood to bar strip-searches of people arrested for minor offenses not involving drugs or violence, unless officials had a reasonable suspicion that they were carrying contraband.

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http://www.salon.com/2012/04/03/the_obama_doj_and_strip_searches/singleton/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/us/justices-approve-strip-searches-for-any-offense.html?_r=2

Thoughts? Opinions?

Thread by: Scruffy, Apr 4, 2012, 4 replies, in forum: Current Events
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Ladies and Gentlemen.

Hello. I am Scruffy. How ya durrrn?

While lurking through the internet, I found myself in search of a new community to stay at. Previous ones I have been at either grew extremely inactive, or there were massive conflicts which caused me to leave. You folks seem pretty cool though, and it is a pleasure to be here. I hope I have the opportunity to meet some new people here.

As far as my interests go, I mainly concern myself with three things: Anime, Music, and Gaming. Of course, there is far more to me than just those. But this is an introduction, so I want to keep it brief.

Welp, that is all for now. Have yourselves a good day. :3c

Also...I am not exactly a KH fan. But I do want to get into the series.

Thread by: Scruffy, Dec 18, 2011, 16 replies, in forum: Introductions & Departures

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Strip Searches Legal For Any Arrest.

Ladies and Gentlemen.