thanks for protecting our rights / freedom.

[VHo]

i'm sorry, you were driving w/o a seat belt, i'm gonna have to strip search you. aye yi yi.

don't give kc any ideas, he start strip searching the staff!

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/...arches-ok.html

[99Limited]

You go to jail, you get strip searched. What's the big deal. Something that takes only a few minutes to endure at the jail has been dragged out for years and cost this guy and the various governments a boat load of money. Bet this guy was looking for an easy payday paid for by the tax payers of NJ.

[thombrogan]

I understand the plaintiff's case, but not even an innocent man has a right to potentially expose inmates to dermal infestations or smuggled contraband (which I'm told are the non-psyOps reason of the strip search). If I were arrested for deep frying condors (a victimless crime if ever there was one, but a 'crime' all the same), the last thing I would want during my involuntary confinement would be for a fellow inmate; regardless of his 'guilt' or lack thereof; to share plague-bearing vermin with anyone near me.

[VHo]

u think they should have the right to strip search you for an improper left turn? huh?

[thombrogan]

Not unless they're throwing me into a pen with other inmates where my hygeine and other pre-arrest actions may be a hazard to their health and well-being.

Contrariwise, do you feel that other prisoners; whose crimes may have been even less victimless than taking an improper left turn; should be exposed to lice, fleas, ticks, and contraband of a potentially lethal nature?

My incarceration for whistling on a Tuesday doesn't give you a right to expose me to scabies or a cleverly hidden three-sectional staff.

[VHo]

who going to jail for an improper left?

there you go giving kc excuses, now he gonna strip search customers.

"you come in my restaurant, i don't know what kind of critters you got breeding on your flesh. my food will not be exposed to such vermin. now take your clothes off and bend over!"

[thombrogan]

who going to jail for an improper left?

So you are saying your "point" was irrelevant? And since when are consumers 'forced' to go to restaurants?

@Chef Francis,

I agree he shouldn't have been incarcerated in the first place.

[Chef Francis]

OK. This is from the first story that I read, from CNN:

The man was a passenger in his family's sport utility vehicle when it was stopped by a New Jersey state trooper in March 2005. His then-pregnant wife was driving and their 4-year-old son was in the back seat as they headed to a Sunday dinner.

Since Florence was the vehicle's registered owner, the officer ran his identification and discovered a bench warrant for an outstanding fine. He had already paid the fine and carried a letter attesting to that fact, since he claimed he had been stopped on several previous occasions. Nevertheless, the 35-year-old Bordentown resident was handcuffed and arrested, then taken to the jail in Burlington County, in the central part of the state.

Court records show Florence was subjected to an invasive strip and visual body-cavity search. He was then held for six days in the county lockup before being transferred to a Newark correctional facility, where, he claims, he was subjected to another more intrusive search before being placed in the general prison population.

I'm trying to figure out why this guy had to go through what he did in the first place. I don't know, I could be wrong, but aren't there much more heinous criminals needing to be locked up in New Jersey than a guy who may or may not have paid a fine? Just how difficult would it have been to check out the validity of the explanation letter the guy had? If nothing more, it has to be cheaper. All of everything going on here is being paid for by tax-paying citizens.

[Mingooch]

OK. This is from the first story that I read, from CNN:



I'm trying to figure out why this guy had to go through what he did in the first place. I don't know, I could be wrong, but aren't there much more heinous criminals needing to be locked up in New Jersey than a guy who may or may not have paid a fine? Just how difficult would it have been to check out the validity of the explanation letter the guy had? If nothing more, it has to be cheaper. All of everything going on here is being paid for by tax-paying citizens.

As a Law Enforcement Officer in NJ, I can address much of this. I understand what you are saying, however there are many reasons and factors that come into play here. Just because an infraction is minor, does not mean the person isnt a criminal. Many times a big time criminal is first taken into custody on a much smaller crime. Yes there are plenty of much more heinous criminals that need to be locked up, however once we see someone has an open warrant, we are legally obligated to take them into custody. If we fail to do so, we can be held liable. That can lead to anything from a civil suit, firing, criminal action, suspension and the like. A far as checking out the validity of the warrant, I am 100% sure he did, in the system that we use. We dont have time and in some cases access to someone at the court house to possibly further check. I DO realize this is a case of human error, but it is not on the cop in question. Some civilian court clerk screwed this one up.
On the topic of searches, I have found or been witness to finding: knives, drugs, cough medicine, guns, pills, cell phones, and much more. I have seen drugs hidden under a baby in their baby seat. As for why he was searched at both facilities, we are required by policy to do so. If we didnt search someone, we have to. Anytime I take custody of someone, I MUST search them.

[VHo]

i didn't read the case, only the implications. that point stands, no?