Question: Does A Strip Search Violate a defendant’s 4th Amendment Rights?
Answer: Not if A Lawful Arrest Has Been Made As Long As The Search Is Not Extreme or patently abusive.
Indiana and federal cases place limits on searches incident to an arrest. US Supreme Court has held that once a lawful arrest has been made, authorities may conduct a “full search” weapons or concealed evidence. No additional probable cause for the search is required, and the search incident to arrest may “involve a relatively extensive exploration of the person.” However, such a search would be unreasonable, if it were “extreme or patently abusive.” The Supreme Court has also rejected the general proposition that a routine, warrantless strip search incident to a lawful misdemeanor arrest is reasonable. Rather, carefully delineating the parameters, the court concluded that to the extent a search is conducted on the basis of jail security, the indignity and personal invasion necessarily accompanying a strip search is simply not reasonable without the reasonable suspicion that weapons or contraband may be introduced into the jail. The circumstances surrounding the arrest, rather than the offense itself, may give rise to a reasonable suspicion, and if so the search is justified.