Strip searches: Debating the recent Supreme Court ruling

Hour 1

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that anyone arrested can be subjected to a strip search even if they’re being held for a minor offense. That’s what happened to plaintiff Albert Florence, who was wrongly arrested for an unpaid traffic violation which in fact, he had paid. Florence was strip-searched twice by two New Jersey detention centers. Florence sued Burlington and Essex county detention centers, arguing that his Fourth Amendment rights had been violated when he was unreasonably searched. But in a 5-4 ruling the high court decided in favor of the jail officials, arguing that prison safety concerns took precedent.  Today we’ll debate the Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders ruling and discuss its implications. Our guests are SUSAN CHANA LASK, the civil rights attorney for Albert Florence, and EAMON JOYCE, an attorney at the law firm Sidley Austin who represented the Essex County respondents.

Listen to the mp3

Listen:
[audio: 040912_100630.mp3]