Miami-Dade Settles Strip Search Lawsuit (2003 FTAA Protesters)

[UpInArms]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=684459

MIAMI Apr 19, 2005 — Miami-Dade County has agreed to pay more than $6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by three women who were strip-searched after their arrests during 2003 protests over a free-trade gathering.

The tentative settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed by Judith Haney, Liat Mayer and Jamie Loughner was signed Monday by U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan in Miami. Final approval could come during a court hearing scheduled for Sept. 23.

The lawsuit caused the county to change its strip-search policy and stop searches of people arrested for minor offenses, said Janelle Hall, a spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Corrections Department.

The three women were among 234 people arrested during 2003 during a Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting in Miami. They said they were strip-searched at the county jail, which had conducted such searches for years.

...more...

[Judi Lynn]

1. This must be meant to be intimidation.It's sheer stupidity.

It shames those who inflict it on others far more than the ones who have to go through it. From the article:

Haney, 50, a project manager at a California biotech company, said she felt attacked when jail officials ordered her to strip, bend over and hop. The practice is supposed to dislodge any hidden weapons or contraband.
(snip)

How would they have handled this guy?

Brought the police chief who had handled protestors at the Republican Convention in Philadelphia prior to the Presidential election in 2000 all the way to Miami to run these protestors to the ground. There was severe overkill.