High Court Upholds Jails’ Strip Searches

The Supreme Court has ruled that jailers may subject people arrested for minor offenses to invasive strip searches, siding with security needs over privacy rights.

By a 5-4 vote Monday, the court ruled against a New Jersey man who complained that strip searches in two county jails violated his civil rights.

INTERACTIVE: Major Cases Of The U.S. Supreme Court Session

Albert Florence was forced to undress and submit to strip searches following his arrest on a warrant for an unpaid fine, though the fine actually had been paid.

Even if the warrant had been valid, failure to pay a fine is not a crime in New Jersey.

 
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)