Supreme Court upholds jail strip searches, including for minor offenses
Breyer: Decision would legitimize searches conducted to harass or humiliate people for their political views - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that those arrested for even minor violations may be strip-searched before being admitted to jail, saying safety concerns outweigh personal privacy rights. The court's conservatives ruled against a New Jersey man who was strip-searched after being mistakenly arrested on an outstanding warrant. The Supreme Court's 5 to 4 decision continued a trend that began after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks of giving jailers more leeway in searching those picked up even for the most minor offenses, such as expired licenses or noisy mufflers.
Barry Grey: US Supreme Court sanctions strip searches even for minor infractions