Strip Searches and the Fourth Amendment--where is the line?

Six years ago, Albert Florence was mistakenly arrested for an unpaid traffic fine and was brought into the county jail and strip searched. The case Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Burlington, New Jersey has finally come to the Supreme Court and will hopefully offer some clarity over the issue of the Fourth Amendment's protection from unreasonable search and seizure. Florence is hoping that the Supreme Court will decide to make strip-searches on a "reasonable suspicion" standard so that someone who has committed a minor offense (such as an unpaid traffic fine) will not have to go through the "nightmare" that he went through. His lawyer argues that not paying a traffic fine is very different than murder, and therefore they should be treated differently. The other side is arguing that strip searches are necessary to maintain a controlled environment in the jails and to secure safety for the prison guards AND the prisoners themselves. This is one of the first cases challenging the security question since 9/11/01 and the oral arguments for this case will be heard on Wednesday, October 12, 2011.

This Supreme Court Case challenges the Constitutionality of strip-searches and asks the question: Do strip searches infringe on the Fourth Amendment? Albert Florence's answer is yes, but the opposition is arguing that without strip searches there would be no security in the prisons. The Fourth Amendment provides protection from unreasonable search and seizure, but what makes something unreasonable? The hope is that the Supreme Court will answer this question and provide some clarity on where the line is drawn. After 9/11, the line was moved because of the security-conciousness of the United States at that point. This is the first major case attacking the placement of the line after 9/11. Should there be a suspicion that every person, even people who have only committed minor crimes, is concealing weapons or drugs and is that suspicion justified? We'll find out what the Supreme Court says early next year.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/10/justice/scotus-strip-searches/index.html?iref=allsearch