The Alter Net website reports that the U.S. Supreme Court today (April 2, 2012) -- on a close 5-4 decision -- ruled that local police can strip-search anyone who is arrested for minor offenses, if they are to be held within the jail's general population before being released.
The decision is a further erosion of the Fourth Amendment's protection from unlawful search and seizure.
Moreover, it overturns laws in 10 states that place limits on non-suspicious strip-searches and upholds a technique used by some local police forces against Occupy protesters last fall, prompting protesters to sue.
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard -- attorney and executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund -- said, "The Supreme Court ruling today continues a dangerous trend expanding law enforcement intrusion into our lives and bodies, on the pretext of security, in a curtailment of fundamental Fourth Amendment rights."
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