Lancaster County Prison – Strip Search Settlement

Chimicles & Tikellis LLP, along with its co-counsel, has reached a proposed settlement valued up to $2.5 million on behalf of certain individuals who were admitted to the Lancaster County Prison, and who were strip searched during the intake process. Specifically, the settlement class includes the following individuals:

people who were placed into the custody of Lancaster County Prison after being detained for a misdemeanor, summary offense, traffic infraction, civil commitment, bench warrant, violation of probation, parole or Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition, and/or for other similar charges (“Charges”); AND
those Charges did not involve the possession or distribution of drugs, possession of weapons, and was not a violent felony; AND
the person was strip searched upon entry into the Lancaster County Prison without reasonable cause; AND
the strip search happened during the period of August 22, 2005 and July 28, 2009.

The amount of money that each class member will receive depends on the number of claims that are submitted, the nature of the charges, and how a checklist used at intake was filled out at the prison.

On September 1, 2009, the Honorable Paul S. Diamond granted preliminary approval to this proposed class action settlement.  The court will schedule a hearing to determine whether to grant final approval to the settlement at a later date.

Additional information about this settlement, including important dates and claim forms, can be obtained from the following website: http://www.lancastercountystripsearch.com/. You can also obtain information about the settlement by contacting the attorneys below, or by calling the claims administrator at 1-877-576-9981.