The following article is posted with the permission of Just Detention, a non-profit organization that seeks to eliminate sexual abuse in prisons and other detention centers throughout the world. Cross-gender pat searches can trigger flashbacks in persons with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by sexual abuse. It can sometimes be viewed as a form of sexual abuse when performed by over-zealous correctional staff.
Prisons can be a dangerous place, and correction officials are charged with running a secure facility. But, in most cases, cross-gender pat searches are done in non-emergency situations. An inmate may be patted down when exiting the dining hall to see if the inmate is carrying, not a shiv, but a piece of chicken. Unprofessional correctional officers might use the pat search as a retaliatory measure for real or imagined slights.
Although many prisoners do not object to cross-gender pat searches, some inmates find such searches sexually abusive. As the result of a law-suit brought in 1998, the Federal Bureau of Prisons was taken to task for its cross-gender pat search policy. Standards of cross-gender pat searches were revised to make them less invasive. Running backward-turned palms over a female’s nipples and the sides of breasts replaced the cupping and lifting of breasts. Hands were to run down an inmates leg from the upper thigh, not up the leg to the crotch area. More importantly, an inmate who could prove to have a history of sexual abuse could apply for a cross-gender pat search exemption, and be issued a card to be shown to any officer of the opposite sex when a pat search was to be performed. Asking for an officer of the same sex was also to be allowed, with no repercussions. Individuals could also ask for an exemption on religious grounds, if a religion prohibits a non-family member from touching someone of the opposite sex. This exemption, it seems, is difficult to obtain.
The following article, distributed by Just Detention, whose motto is Rape is not part of the Penalty, exemplifies the reason the Court is getting involved in the matter of cross-gender pat searches.
Supreme Court Affirms Unconstitutionality of Many Cross-Gender Searches
Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with JDI and other advocates by recognizing that many cross-gender searches of detainees are unconstitutional. The issue came before the court when the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department in Arizona appealed a strongly worded 9th Circuit decision in favor of Plaintiff Charles Byrd. In our amicus brief before the 9th Circuit, JDI made clear that cross-gender searches of detainees in non-emergency situations may violate the constitution and international human rights standards.
The case began when Mr. Byrd was subjected to a partially disrobed, pat-down search by a female officer in training in a non-emergency situation. This search was allowed to take place despite the availability of a male officer and the presence of approximately 30 other officers and trainees. By telling his story and taking action against the facility, Mr. Byrd and his attorneys have set important new precedent in the 9th Circuit (the country's largest judicial region) and helped affirm the rights of detainees be free from sexual abuse and to be treated with dignity.
JDI has long monitored abusive search policies and practices and their relationship to sexual abuse. Cases like this are an important part of our mission and the larger movement to end prisoner rape.
To read the Ninth Circuit decision in Maricopa County Sheriff's Department v. Byrd click here to go to website
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