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Apr 20 -
Three women, who Miami-Dade police illegally strip-searched after their arrests during protests outside a free trade meeting, have won a $6.25 million class action settlement for themselves and thousands of other women subjected to similar treatment.
Judith Haney, Liat Mayer and Jamie Loughner were among 234 protesters arrested outside the November 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas Conference in downtown Miami.
The activists claimed in their suit that they were invasively searched at the county jail, in violation of their Fourth Amendment rights to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures. Investigators later discovered that police had been routinely strip-searching people for years.
Florida law prohibits police from performing strip searches except on people booked on certain felony charges or when there is probable cause to believe the person is hiding contraband, drugs or weapons.
A federal judge signed the tentative agreement Monday, which could apply to up to 50,000 people jailed at the Women's Detention Center and other Miami-Dade County correctional facilities between March 5, 2000, and February 28, 2005, the Miami Herald reports.
The county denied wrongdoing in the settlement, which awaits final approval in September. Women have until the first of September to file claims expected to range between $10 and $3,000, depending on the individual circumstances.
