September 11, 2003
Judge: Strip searches wrong
By Brendan Scott
Times Herald-Record
bscott@th-record.com
White Plains – In a blistering decision that could open Orange County to tens of millions of dollars in damages, a federal judge has ruled that Orange County Jail violated the rights of thousands of former inmates by hanging onto an unconstitutional strip-search policy.
"During a time when so many of our liberties are being sacrificed in the name of safety, we are encouraged that an individual's personal dignity is still protected by the court," said Goshen attorney James Monroe.
Monroe and co-counsel Robert N. Isseks of Middletown are suing on behalf of thousands of inmates who have passed through the county jail in recent years.
Essentially, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon reaffirmed a higher court's decision that allowed strip searches only on inmates jailed for violent, drug or weapons offenses. Unlike state or federal prisons, most county jail inmates are awaiting trial and have not yet been convicted.
The 89-page decision comes as little surprise to both sides. McMahon already ordered the county to adhere to the court precedent in July of last year.
But in hearings earlier this summer, the county argued that correction officers needed to strip search every inmate admitted to the jail to keep them from sneaking in contraband like drugs, weapons and money. The county claimed such items had flooded into the jail since word of the restricted strip search policy went public last year.
McMahon not only rejected that claim, but found that the county hyped the facts to prove its case. She accused the county's lead witness, sheriff's Capt. Joseph Ryan, of "not telling the truth" and doing a "midtrial about-face" in his testimony.
County Attorney Catherine Bartlett said Ryan was under tremendous pressure between this case and others.
Ryan himself said McMahon may have been confused by the sheer volume of statistics and complicated corrections procedures.
"I know for a fact I was 100 percent accurate in my testimony," Ryan said. "I would not jeopardize my career by trying to deceive any court."
Nonetheless, McMahon's decision could allow as many as 23,000 former inmates to sue the county for damages. The potential award stretches into the tens of millions of dollars, Monroe said. McMahon herself recently awarded a single plaintiff $25,000 in a similar, but unrelated, strip-search case.
But Bartlett said the decision was "out of touch" with the people of Orange County and the demands of keeping a safe jail. She vowed an appeal, even if it means taking the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Those odds aren't good. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals – the next step up from McMahon – made the same ruling on the same issue two years ago against Nassau County. And the Supreme Court decided not to hear that appeal.
"We deserve that chance," Bartlett said. "The people of the county deserve that chance because it's all nonsense. What this decision says is that the rights of inmates are more important than the safety of the men and women who have to work in that facility."
