Six Plaintiffs Claim County of Wayne (MI), Sheriff Subjected Female Inmates to Unlawful Strip Searches

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The County of Wayne in Michigan is among the defendants in a proposed class action lawsuit in which six named plaintiffs, all former inmates of the Wayne County Jail, allege they and other female detainees were subject to “unreasonable, unlawful, and unconstitutional” strip searches. The lawsuit—which, in addition to the county itself, names Wayne County Sheriff Benny N. Napoleon and an individual officer as defendants—claims female inmates were, at the discretion of the defendants, “forcibly exposed in a state of undress to male guards, officers, employees, and other male inmates.”

The graphic complaint describes scenarios in which the plaintiffs and proposed class members were subject to strip searches “even if the female inmates were experiencing menstrual cycles.” Further, the women say they could often heard male officers “laughing or otherwise mocking them” as they stood exposed. The plaintiffs describe their experiences as “degrading, humiliating, and sexually exploitative,” as officers for the defendants would allegedly make derogatory comments while conducting the searches, reportedly without reasonable suspicion.

“[The plaintiffs] and other female inmates were often degraded, humiliated, and subjected to inhumane and cruel treatment as described herein for no legitimate penological interest but rather to embarrass, humiliate and degrade them,” the lawsuit reads, adding the plaintiffs were class members in a previous lawsuit (Weathington v. Wayne County, et al.) for which the court never ruled on potential class certification.