Supreme Court Approves Strip Searches For Any Arrestable Offense

sl4shd0rk writes "Taking a page out of the TSA handbook, the Supreme Court has voted to allow strip searches for any offense, no matter how minimal. The article cites these two tidbits from Justice Anthony Kennedy: 'Every detainee who will be admitted to the general [jail or prison] population may be required to undergo a close visual inspection while undressed,' and 'Maintaining safety and order at detention centers requires the expertise of correctional officials.'"

Comments

I would rather have that than contraband

[crazyjj]

I generally am pretty pro-civil rights, but if I were going into a jail or prison I would probably rather have someone strip search me than to get shanked later by some psycho who snuck in a knife. And it's also a pretty shitty message to send to guards to say "A minor issue of prisoner privacy is more important to us than your safety."

Maybe you can make the "slippery slope" argument on this, but some sort of strip search on prison admission is hardly a new issue. They've been doing it for decades now.

Re:Canada Here I Come

[CanHasDIY]

Did you know that if you are arrested on a Friday, and the judge has already left for the weekend, they can hold you in jail until the judge returns Monday? So, under the new interpretation, you can (and will) be strip searched and placed in population for 2 days, all because you failed to pay a parking ticket, or was walking your dog without a leash, or you crossed the street away from a crosswalk, or your seatbelt wasn't properly fastened, or you just plain pissed a cop off by knowing your rights. Hell, where I live there's a law on the books from the 1800's that says spitting on sidewalks and swearing in front of "ladies" are arrestable offenses.

Still sound reasonable?