"The judge's finding shows that the Cook County Jail violated the constitutional rights of inmates approximately half a million times," said attorney for the plaintiffs, Michael Kanovitz of Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law (www.Loevy.com).

Judge Kennelly noted that the suit alleges that over a period of years, the Jail needlessly humiliated inmates with group strip searches of upwards of 100 inmates at a time standing shoulder to shoulder in unsanitary conditions and, reminiscent of charges made infamous by Abu Ghraib, "that [guard] dogs were used to threaten, frighten, and intimidate detainees during strip searches and that at times the dogs were not muzzled or leashed."

"Bodily fluids were often present during the male group strip searches…including vomit, diarrhea, and blood…" In addition to beatings, "over 400 of plaintiffs' declarants also claim that the guards used insults or abusive language during strip searches. These included insults about body odor, anatomy, sexual orientation, and race." Quotations from the former inmates' declarations can be found at
http://www.loevy.com/CM/Custom/loevy%20SOF%20FINAL.pdf (see especially pp. 13-15).

The searches were conducted without regard to the seriousness of the charges faced. Many of those strip searched were arrested on alleged misdemeanor charges such as failing to appear in court on traffic offenses — they were processed through the jail simply because they could not afford to post bond.

Kennelly noted that previous to this, many federal courts have outlawed similar strip-search policies. Some of these cases are more than two decades old. "The strip searches of all detainees held on misdemeanor or lesser charges not involving drugs or weapons, without individualized reasonable suspicion, violated their Fourth Amendment rights as a matter of law. No reasonable jury could find otherwise… Accordingly, the Class II plaintiffs are entitled to summary judgment on their Fourth Amendment claims."

For defendants accused of more serious crimes, the judge found in summary judgment that the while the County was entitled to make strip searches, the humiliating group searches were unjustified, as was the undisputed fact that "on occasion, bodily fluids have been present in the hallway where the searches of the Class I members occurred."

Cook County Jail is the largest jail complex in the Western Hemisphere, housing some 10,000 inmates at any given time. The suit, Kim Young, et al. v. County of Cook, et al., No. 06 C552, was brought by Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law, the largest civil rights law firm in Chicago.

Judge Kennelly's opinion and order is below:


Dept of full disclosure: The author is an employee of Loevy and Loevy.