Supreme Court rules on strip searches

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision stating that detainees who enter the general population of a jail or prison could be strip searched, regardless of their reasons for being detained. Currently, most jails and prisons do not strip search pre-arraignment detainees unless the officer has probable cause to believe that the detainee has weapons, drugs, or other contraband. Jails and prisons may be tempted to change their strip search policies due to this Supreme Court decision. In our view, however, the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights still prohibits jails or prisons from strip searching pre-arraignment detainees without probable cause that there is contraband. Read the decision, or read an article about how this ruling will affect jails in Massachusetts.