Nadrich Accident Injury lawyers represents victims of illegal strip searches in California. We help those illegally forced to undergo strip searches to recover financial compensation for their emotional distress, shame and humiliation. We also help them recover punitive damages which punish and bring justice to wrongdoers.
Illegal strip searches may happen in many different settings. Police may illegally strip search people in jail, after arrests or in prisons such as state-run California prisons. They may occur at airports under the guise of national security.
The wife of an inmate in California recently won $5.6 million in settlement money regarding an illegal strip search. You, too, may qualify for financial compensation if you have been the victim of an illegal strip search at a correctional facility or other setting.
We will handle your illegal strip search case on a contingency fee basis. This means that we won’t charge any fee to represent you in your case until and unless we recover compensation for you. The only fee which you will ever owe us is a percentage of any compensation we recover for you.
We have been representing victims of illegal strip searches and sexual abuse since 1990, and have recovered over $750,000,000 for our clients. Our extensive experience in helping victims just like you will allow us to recover the most compensation possible for you.
Call us today for a free, confidential consultation, fill out this page’s free case evaluation form or text us from this page if you or a loved one was a victim of an illegal strip search in California, including in the Bay Area, Southern, Central or Northern California. You may qualify for financial compensation in a lawsuit. We have case intake specialists of your preferred gender ready to take your call.
What Is a Strip Search?
Strip searches are procedures used by police and others, typically utilized to find contraband such as drugs or weapons.
A strip search typically entails a technique which is more invasive than the technique used in a pat-down search. A strip search may involve numerous actions by the police or another party, including:
- A request that someone remove all of their clothing and/or accessories from their body
- Searching or probing someone’s creases, cavities and body parts
- Utilization of electronic body scanners that reveal someone’s whole body
- Conducting partial strip searches, where people are asked to remove specific items like socks, shoes, sweatshirts, coats, metal objects, belts, etc.
When strip searches occur, those being searched might feel as if their privacy has been invaded. Many people also commonly experience shame or embarrassment during or after the search. Because of this, strip searches usually need to be done under reasonable suspicion since their nature is so personal.
“Reasonable suspicion” means that the person being searched must be reasonably suspected of being immersed in a type of crime, such as hiding drugs, which necessitates the search.
Seeing inmates nude isn’t necessarily considered a strip search. The viewing of a naked body must take place during a search procedure for it to be considered a strip search. Accidental or incidental viewings of naked bodies do not constitute strip searches.
Strip searches do not necessarily need to involve nudity. Courts have ruled that forcing a girl to remove all clothes but her underwear and bra was considered a strip search.
Observing inmates or detainees while they are changing clothes or showering may be considered strip searching.
Whenever detainees or inmates are searched and their breasts, genitals or buttocks are touched in any way, reasonable suspicion—a requirement for a strip search—needs to be met.
When Strip Searches Are Illegal
Strip searches are generally illegal when:
- Police conduct them without reasonable suspicion that criminal activity has occurred
- Law enforcement officers of the opposite sex conduct them
- They are carried out around others (not police) of the opposite sex
- They are carried out in a way which reveals someone’s body to the public
- They are carried out in an overly intrusive, offensive, insulting or degrading manner
Some jurisdictions have ruled that one should not strip search those who have not been legally arrested for crimes.
It’s vital to talk about your case’s specific circumstances with a lawyer who is experienced handling cases like yours. An attorney can tell you whether your strip search was illegal or not, and can help you recover justice and financial compensation if the search was illegal.
Know Your Rights Against Unreasonable Searches
If you’ve been strip searched, if it was lawful or not depends on a couple of factors regarding protections you’re given under the Fourth Amendment. For it to be determined if a strip search is legal under the Fourth Amendment, it must be asked:
- Was there a reasonable expectation of privacy for the person who was searched? The search might be permitted if no reasonable expectation of privacy existed.
- If reasonable expectation of privacy didn’t exist, was there a legitimate reason for the search? If yes, the search might be lawful.
- Where did the search happen and who did the search? If the search happened in a correctional facility and an inmate or detainee was searched, the search was likely, but not necessarily permissible.
When those conducting searches are not government employees but are rather private security guards, then the Fourth Amendment doesn’t apply. The Fourth Amendment only applies to government employees. However, just because a search was conducted by a non-government employee doesn’t mean it was allowed. You may still be able to file a lawsuit over it.
There are situations where people might not have a reasonable expectation of privacy, yet strip searches may be unlawful.
Airports are a place where people don’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy, since national security concerns typically outweigh travelers’ privacy rights. However, TSA agents are not allowed to conduct strip searches in most situations.
If a reasonable expectation of privacy exists and a government employee conducts the search, did they have probable cause or reasonable suspicion to do so?
Strip searches need to be done for legitimate reasons and can’t be done to harass or humiliate prisoners. When strip searches are done for reasons that are unlawful, inmates and detainees shouldn’t assume the Fourth Amendment prevents them from filing a lawsuit.
Who Is Liable in a Strip Search Lawsuit?
If you wish to file an invasion of privacy lawsuit based on the Fourth Amendment, it’s vital to know that these claims may only be filed against government employees like law enforcement officers, prison or jail employees, or TSA officers.
As a result, if you get strip searched by a private officer or security guard, you will not be able to file a Fourth Amendment invasion of privacy claim. However, you might qualify to file a civil lawsuit against the party who is responsible.
If you don’t have a valid Fourth Amendment claim, though, your state’s tort law might let you file an invasion of privacy lawsuit based on tort law against a private security guard, their employer or who hired them.
Your case’s specific facts should be discussed with a lawyer who can assist you in determining your legal rights and options regarding your illegal strip search.
Strip Search Settlement Examples
Woman Wins $5.6 Million for Illegal Prison Strip
In September 2024, the wife of an inmate in California won a $5.6 million settlement after getting sexually violated as part of a strip search when the woman attempted to visit her husband, a California inmate.
$3.6 million of the settlement will be paid by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The remainder will be paid by other defendants, including Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley Hospital, a doctor and two correctional officers.
The lawsuit alleges the woman was illegally strip searched and subjected to drug and pregnancy tests, CT and X-ray scans at a hospital, and an additional strip search done by a male doctor who violated her sexually.
The woman’s attorneys claimed that the warrant prison officials used to justify the search said the search could only be done if possible contraband was found on or in her body by an X-ray. However, the CT scan and X-ray did not find evidence of possible contraband.
Prisons in California face an ongoing issue with sexual abuse, with the United States Justice Department announcing an investigation has been opened into claims that women have been systematically abused sexually by correctional officers. It was also announced earlier this year by the Federal Bureau of Prisons that a Northern California women’s prison will be closed due to rampant sexual abuse.
New York City Compensates $33 Million to Illegal Strip Search Victims
Jails in New York City agreed to a $33 million settlement with the city after around 100,000 people got illegally strip-searched from 1999 to 2007. The case was regarding those arrested for, but not convicted of misdemeanor weapons and drug charges. It was ruled by the court that the searches violated the constitutional rights of the prisoners. Two plaintiffs were women who claimed they were forced to undergo gynecological exams.
Los Angeles County Pays $53 Million Settlement Over Group Strip Searches
In 2019, Los Angeles County settled a lawsuit for $53 million over allegations that tens of thousands of women underwent group strip searches in jail which were invasive. The lawsuit alleged that inmates were put in groups as large as 50 and ordered to display their genitals while degrading comments were shouted by deputies.
Blanket Strip Search Policies
Policies regarding “blanket” strip searches have led to numerous lawsuits against institutions like hospitals, prisons and jails. “Blanket” policies are policies involving facilities performing strip searches on anyone admitted to an area, regardless of criminal history.
Certain courts have formerly ruled that strip searches are only allowed when authorities have “individualized” suspicions of criminal activity. As an example, police may be allowed to do strip searches only on inmates who are suspected of smuggling illegal items like drugs.
If you have been strip searched, you might want to talk with a lawyer since the search may have done for unacceptable or unlawful reasons. Many people have successfully won lawsuits over strip searches which were unconstitutional.
Contact an Illegal Strip Search Lawyer Today
Call us today for a free, confidential consultation if you or a loved one were the subject of a strip search which may be illegal. Our 30+ years of experience in handling strip search and sexual abuse cases will allow us to recover the most money possible on your behalf.
Remember: we won’t charge you anything at all until and unless we win your case.
Call us today for a free, confidential case evaluation. We have case intake specialists of your preferred gender ready to take your call.
