Nassau News

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U.S. District Judge Denis Hurley ruled on Thursday, March 27, 2008, that thousands of people illegally strip searched in Nassau County jail in the late 1990s can now sue the county for damages. This follows a 10-year-long class-action law suit that had been filed against the county. The suit had over 23,000 plaintiffs that had undergone the jail's policy of strip searching everyone admitted to the jail.

The ruling follows a trail of litigation that can be traced back to lead plaintiff Gardy Augustin of Uniondale, who was arrested on April 27, 1999 for driving with a suspended license, a non-felony offense.

Augustin was admitted to the county jail where he was strip searched without inquiry into the nature of his charges as well as without reasonable suspicion that he was concealing a weapon or contraband of any kind.

Augustin filed a lawsuit, and thousands more came forward to join it. In 1999, a federal judge ruled that Nassau County jail had to end this strip search practice, finding it unconstitutional.

The county has since modified its strip search policy in accordance with the judge’s ruling. The county can now strip search only new inmates charge with felonies. Those charged with lesser crimes can only be strip searched if the officers have “reasonable suspicion” that an inmate is hiding contraband.

• Newsday published an article on March 28, 2008 discussing Judge Denis Hurley's ruling to allow a class action law suit to go forward involving thousands that were illegally strip searched. It discusses the traumatizing strip searches that many inmates went through at Nassau County Jail after being arrested for misdemeanors.
  
• An article , published by The New York Times on June 8, 1999, discusses how Nassau County Jail ended its practice of strip-searching every person admitted to the jail. The jail ended these practices in response to the growing number of plaintiffs in a class-action law suit.
  
• This article, published by The New York Times on March 29, 2008, discusses the ruling that has made over 20,000 nonviolent inmates who were strip searched eligible to receive compensation. Judge Hurley criticizes the practice of strip searching and the attorney's office is said to be looking into the county's legal options.
  
• Published on Judicial Reports on July 6, 2007, this article mentions another instance of alleged illegal strip searching in New York. A 47-year-old woman claiming to be illegally strip searched at Clinton County Jail was granted class-action status for her law suit against the county.
  
• Published in the Eureka Reporter on November 16, 2005, this article mentions another case of illegal strip search where a woman in California was arrested for drunk driving and was forced to strip in front of male officers and videotaped without having gone through proper procedure.
  
• This article, published in Jet Magazine on May 31, 1999, discusses a federal jury's order for New York City to pay $5 million in damages to a woman strip searched by jail guards. It goes on to discuss the 63,000 other victims suing for the same reason as well as the city's stand that these searches were not policy, but mistakes.
  
• Published in the New York Law Journal on March 30, 2005, this article discusses an upstate New York County being ordered to suspend a policy in which all detainees, including those with only minor offenses, were to be strip searched.
  
• This article, published by the New York Times on June 2, 1999, discusses a ruling made by a federal judge deeming strip searching everyone arrested unconstitutional. Jail officials were given 60 days to comply with the judge's ruling that inmates charged for misdemeanors were no longer subject to the searches.

Additional video interviews

To view the interview with John C. O'Malley, Hofstra University assistant director of public safety, click on the embedded player below. Click here to read the transcript of the interview.

To view the interview with Joe Forestano, click the embedded player below. Click here to read the transcript of the interview.