Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The board voted 3-0 to approve the settlement, with Supervisors Janice Hahn and Mark Ridley-Thomas absent due to illness.
Supervisor Sheila Kuehl briefly mentioned the allegations in the case before the board went behind closed doors to discuss the settlement.
“When we read the description of it, we were horrified,” Kuehl said of the strip searches that occurred between March 2008 and January 2015.
The plaintiffs alleged that strip and body-cavity searches were conducted in groups of up to 60 women crowded together in an outdoor bus bay with a roll-up door open to the jail’s reception area where male employees work. They accused deputies of using obscenities and abusive and demeaning language during the group search.
Some alleged that deputies required inmates to insert their fingers into their mouths after touching other body cavities.
In 2017, a federal judge ruled that the women’s Fourth Amendment rights had been violated and the parties began mediation.
The sheriff’s department installed body scanners at the downtown Inmate Reception Center in 2014, following recommendations by the Citizens’ Commission on Jail Violence aimed at reducing strip searches at all county jails. After consultation with outside correctional experts, 18 more scanners, including two at CRDF, were installed by last May.
A December report to the board by Sheriff Alex Villanueva said that 8,124 scans had been conducted at CRDF in the first nine months of 2018 and not one inmate refused the scanner in favor of a physical search.
However, the “department routinely conducts strip searches of inmate housing locations and inmate personal property during day-to-day operations within all custody facilities to maintain safe jail facilities for inmates and staff, while also removing potentially dangerous contraband” and data on those day-to-day searches is not tracked, according to the report.
As a matter of policy, the county does not publicly disclose the details of legal settlements until all parties formally agree to the terms.
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Adrianna Gonzalez says
I am one of many women who had to go through the embarrassing experience ever you know that those deputies are still working there
Myra Irby says
it was disrespectful and so embarrassing I also signed the contract paper to hello my name is you already have my information I’ve been waiting on my lawyer to get back with me and she hasn’t got back with me she’ll send me texts from here to there but now I can’t get in contact with her
Sandra Lee Zubek says
I was another inmate that was a trustee and never left the building…its absurd to have strip searches of such and never left the facility. I was told about this but have been getting no responses back. It was horrific to say the least.
Myra Irby says
I need information so they can take down my information
Sandra Lee Zubek says
I do too please. I was a victim as well
Sandra Zubek says
When I was in custody at Lynwood I also signed a contract to be a worker to earn time off my sentence…I did 8 months, worked most of the time but did not get my earned credits. Different lawsuit. I need con ected to this one!
Also while being a worker I was strip searched like they mentioned in this lawsuit and I never left the facility! Many times.
Mrs M says
Amador vs Baca
Go to http://www.lynwoodstripsearch.com/ if you believe you should be included
Sa dra zubek says
I am trying to find out as well
Sandra zubek says
I am one of the many that was incustody 2013 to 2014 in L.A. County Jail. I am a part of afew lawsuits I need updated on.
1. Being that I signed a conservation program contract, it put me elgible ti earn time off…I wasnt given time off yet most of my 16 month prison term I was a trustee.
2. While I was a trustee, I was strip searched and I never left the building.
Can someone please give me an update on bith of these lawsuits mentioned? My name is Sandra Lee Zubek. I appreciate it.
Kimberly Coles says
Does anyone know the Law firm handling this case?
Sa dra zubek says
I am trying to find out as well
Dtisha Pickett says
Im also was a Inmate since 2001 also disrespected by them who do INeed tp contact