Anyone detained for minor offenses could be the next Timothy McVeigh — the Oklahoma City bomber — according to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kennedy claims anyone arrested should be subject to a strip search because even minor offenders can be “the most devious and dangerous criminals.”
Justice Stephen Breyer, who opposed the recent ruling by the Supreme Court in favor of strip searches at law enforcement officials’ discretion, said such minor offenses include driving with a headlight out, walking a dog without a leash and riding a bike without a bell.
This means anyone who gets in trouble with the law for even the simplest violation could wind up naked in a room with strangers, as they probe every orifice for what probably is not there.
This also leaves the decision to perform an invasive and humiliating strip search entirely up to the jailer. The ruling requires no form of review for guards’ decisions, essentially giving them a green light — as George Washington University law professor Orin Kerr said — to violate anyone they please.
This has created a slippery slope. What started as a more reasonable form of searching, selective application based on detainee’s motive to hide items within their crevasses, has become pervasive and an outright violation of privacy.
Kennedy claimed this ruling is designed to prevent new inmates from bringing in contraband or weapons while they are detained, but especially pertaining to minor offenses this thought process does not hold up. Someone arrested for an inoperable headlight would not have expected to be arrested, and therefore is unlikely to have contraband or weapons stashed within their body cavities. Most people do not drive around ready to smuggle contraband into jail.
The logic of the justices who voted in favor of this ruling is flawed. Officials state they are in no position to question guards’ judgment, but our legislative system is based on checks and balances. Whatever the reason is it cannot justify this violation of privacy, individual rights and Americans’ personal bubbles.
Katy Sword can be reached at [email protected]