Naked in Waco
Texas Civil Rights Project suing county over illegal strip search of minor.
By Richard Whittaker, 2:42PM, Mon. Sep. 15, 2008
Considering that the Texas definitions of adult and minor are flexible when it comes to the death penalty, is it any surprise that there's a case claiming that a 14-year-old was recently strip-searched in Waco?
The Texas Civil Rights Project (which is already suing McLennan County Jail for strip-searching adults without good cause) filed suit in federal court on Friday against the Bill Logue Juvenile Justice Center for strip-searching a juvenile whose suspected offense was (and no, we're not kidding) truancy.
TCRP argues that strip-searches without reasonable suspicion that the suspect is concealing contraband are a flat-out Fourth Amendment violation (they cite Doe v. Calumet City, 1995, where the judge called unnecessary strip-searches "demeaning, dehumanizing, undignified, humiliating, terrifying, unpleasant, embarrassing, repulsive, signifying degradation and submission.") "It's bad enough McLennan County is strip-searching adults, but humiliating children like this is unimaginable," said TCRP attorney Scott Medlock.
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Courts, Constitution, Texas Civil Rights Project, McLennan County Jail, Bill Logue Juvenile Justice Center, Strip-search
