Lancaster County Strip Search Class Action

Chimicles & Tikellis LLP filed a class action complaint in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against the County of Lancaster and the Lancaster County Prison Board (collectively, "Defendants") challenging the Defendants' alleged uniform practice and procedure of strip-searching all individuals who enter the Lancaster County Prison and are placed in prison clothing, regardless of the crime or violation for which they are detained. According to the complaint, it is well established that - pursuant to right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures guaranteed by the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution - individuals charged with misdemeanors, summary violations, and/or similar crimes cannot be strip searched upon entry or transfer to the Lancaster County Prison absent "particularized suspicion" that those detainees possess weapons or contraband. The complaint alleges that Defendants nevertheless maintain an unconstitutional and illegal written and/or de facto policy, custom, or practice of conducting visual body cavity searches (i.e., visual inspection of the vaginal and rectal cavities) on all individuals who enter the custody of the Lancaster County Prison, regardless of the individual characteristics or the nature of their charged crime or violation, and without any inquiry into or establishment of reasonable suspicion.

The Lancaster County Strip Search lawsuit, which was assigned to the Honorable Judge Diamond, seeks to represent a class consisting of all persons who were detained for misdemeanors, summary offenses, violations of probation or parole, traffic infractions, civil commitments, or other similar charges and/or crimes, and who were strip searched upon their entry into the Lancaster County Prison. According to the complaint, members of the class were victims of routine strip searches upon their transfer and/or entry into the Lancaster County Prison pursuant to Defendants' alleged written and/or de facto policy. Strip searches were conducted on individuals arrested for, among other offenses, Driving While Intoxicated, Harassment, Trespassing, Failure to Pay Child Support, and violations of probation and parole for misdemeanor offenses, according to the complaint. The complaint claims that the named plaintiff and members of the class have suffered psychological pain, humiliation, and mental anguish as a direct result of being unconstitutionally strip searched - often, if not always, in the presence of other detainees and prison officials - pursuant to Defendants' illegal policies and procedures.

The Lancaster County Strip Search complaint seeks to vindicate the alleged violations of the constitutional rights of the plaintiff and members of the putative class, and asserts a claim for monetary damages pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The complaint also requests equitable relief to ensure that Defendants' alleged unconstitutional practices and policies are terminated. The amended complaint is linked below.

For further information or to join the case, please contact the attorneys below.