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$2.16 Million Settlement in Dauphin Pennsylvania Jail Strip Search Lawsuit
Loaded on Sept. 15, 2009
published in Prison Legal News
September, 2009, page 21
A class action lawsuit alleging illegal strip searches occurred regularly at Pennsylvania’s Dauphin County Prison (DCP) has been settled for $2.16 million. The class claimed they were arrested on minor charges and strip searched without any particularized suspicion that they possessed weapons or other contraband.The lawsuit was filed after …
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More from this issue:
- Anatomy of the Modern Prisoners’ Rights Suit: A Practitioner’s Guide to Successful Jury Trials on Behalf of Prisoner-Plaintiffs*, by Alphonse A. Gerhardstein
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Innocent Georgia Man Receives $500,000 as Compensation for Rape Conviction
- Former Prisoner Convicted of Impersonating Criminal Defense Attorney
- Why False Imprisonment Recoveries Should Not Be Taxable, by Robert Wood
- Texas’ Parole Condition X Violates Due Process, by Gary Hunter
- $2.16 Million Settlement in Dauphin Pennsylvania Jail Strip Search Lawsuit
- Using Chemical Agents on Mentally Ill Prisoners Unconstitutional, by David Reutter
- Audit Finds California Prison Receiver Broke State Law by Making No-Bid Contracts with Verizon, by Michael Brodheim
- Fifth Circuit Upholds $14 Million Award Against Louisiana DA’s Office in Wrongful Conviction Suit; Affirmed by En Banc Ruling, by Matthew Clarke
- Third Circuit Upholds Pennsylvania DOC Policy Requiring Control Number for Legal Mail, by David Reutter
- Third Circuit Upholds Ban on UCC Materials; Sixth Circuit Disagrees, by Brandon Sample
- Working in Legal Field Not Prohibited While on Federal Supervised Release
- Prisoners Not Evacuated, Parolees Rounded Up as Hurricanes Hit, by Gary Hunter
- Contraband Smuggling by Texas Prison Guards Rarely Punished Harshly, by Matthew Clarke
- Oklahoma Prisoner Beaten to Death After Celled with Co-Defendant He Testified Against
- California Lifers’ New Litigation Tool: DA’s “Opinion” and Governor’s “Belief” Do Not Constitute “Evidence” in Parole Denial Cases, by Marvin Mentor
- Notice Required for Rejected Packages BOP Warden Denied Qualified Immunity, by Brandon Sample
- Organ Harvesting In China Prison Goes High Tech, by Gary Hunter
- Former Oklahoma Sheriff Convicted of Sex Crimes Now Where to Put Him?
- Federal Three-Judge Panel Orders California To Reduce Prison Population By 44,000 Prisoners Within Two Years, by Marvin Mentor
- New York’s Correction Law § 24 Held Unconstitutional by US Supreme Court, by Brandon Sample
- $25,000 Award to Utah Muslim Prisoner Attacked by Death Row Prisoner Following 9/11
- FBI And States Expand Collection Of DNA To The Innocent, by Brandon Sample
- Sheriff and Guards Indicted: Sex, Misconduct and Contraband Scandal at Texas Jail, by Matthew Clarke
- Washington States Passes New Law for Automatic Restoration of Voting Rights, by Eric Nygren
- Philadelphia Tax Break for Hiring Ex-Prisoners a Bust
- U.S. Supreme Court Recedes from Saucier’s Mandatory Provisions for Determining Qualified Immunity Claims, by David Reutter
- California: Parole Board’s Policy Barring Friendly Oral Witness Testimony At Lifer Hearings Ruled An “Underground Regulation”, by Marvin Mentor
- $3.75 Million Settlement for Orange County, California, Jail Detainee Severely Beaten by Prisoners
- Violence on the Rise in Arizona Prisons, by David Reutter
- Maryland Prisoners Receive Kosher Food, by Brandon Sample
- From the Bottom of the Heap: The Autobiography of Black Panther Robert Hillary King, Oakland, CA: PM Press (2009) $24.95 hardback, 217 pages, by Mel Motel
- Sixth Circuit Overturns $625,000 Verdict for Ohio Prisoner Sexually Abused by Guard, by Brandon Sample
- Oklahoma Prisoner Awarded $65,000 for Inadequate MSRA Care, by Brandon Sample
- $1 Million Settlement in Santa Clara, California Jail Suicide
- No Qualified Immunity for Guards Who Failed to Help Vomiting Prisoner Who Died
- Indigent Texas Prisoners May No Longer be Required to Repay Cost of Court-Appointed Counsel
- California Prison Still Subpar, Grand Jury Finds
- News in Brief:
- $1,000 Jury Award to Beaten Missouri Prisoner
More from these topics:
- $4,000 Awarded to Ohio Prisoner for Denied Records Requests, Oct. 1, 2026. Damages, Retroactivity, Public Records Act, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
- Fourth Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity in Strip Searches Resulting from Anonymous Tips, Sept. 1, 2026. Strip Searches, Qualified Immunity, Fourth Amendment, rights, Suspicionless Searches.
- Michigan DOC Legal Payouts Top $7 Million in FY 2025, Less than One Percent of $2.15 Billion Operating Budget, Sept. 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Cost of Prison Systems, Damages, Settlements.
- Oregon Supreme Court: Jail Credit Statute Focuses Upon Legal Custody Not Physical Custody Location, July 1, 2026. Civil Procedure, Sentencing, Appeals/Appellate Jurisdiction, Criminal Justice, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
- Oklahoma Jail Closes After $2.55 Million Payout for Retaliatory Strip Search, July 1, 2026. Retaliation, Strip Searches, Monell Liability, Wrongful Use of Force, Suspicionless Searches.
- Seventh Circuit Upholds Liability but Reverses Damages in Lawsuit Over Illinois Warden and Investigator Using Prisoner as Bait to Catch Staff Member Raping Her, May 1, 2026. Staff-Prisoner Assault, Failure to Protect (General), Damages, Evidentiary Ruling, Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- Ohio Supreme Court Awards Prisoner $1,000 for Denied Records Request, April 1, 2026. Administrative Exhaustion (PLRA), Damages, Public Records, Public Records Act.
- Punished for Bleeding: How Periods in Prison Become a Trap, Feb. 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Gender Discrimination -- Women, Strip Searches, Hygiene Supplies, Discrimination (Transgender).
- $6.49 Million Settlement for 600,000 Prisoners in Massive CorrectCare Data Breach Class Action, Dec. 1, 2025. Private Contractors, Medical Records, Damages, Settlements, Privacy Act/Rights.
- $4 Million Verdict Returned in Colorado Jail Suicide Case, Nov. 1, 2025. Damages, Failure to Train/Supervise, Suicides, 42 U.S. Code § 1983, civil action for deprivation of rights, Monell Liability.

