“Lives will be lost” if a bill allowing strip searches of misdemeanor suspects isn’t passed.
Michigan Capitol Confidential reports:
Citing safer jails and a reduction in unnecessary lawsuits, State Sen. Rick Jones introduced legislation that would allow anyone put in jail for a misdemeanor to be strip searched without probable cause.
Sen. Jones, R-Grand Ledge, introduced Senate Bill 958 last week. It was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Jones said the law would bring Michigan’s jails in line with the federal prisons, where he said strip searches are allowed without cause. There have been people with weapons hidden on or inside their bodies, he said. Sen. Jones has a background in public safety and served as a jail administrator for four years.
“It is just simply not safe to not check people before you put them in the jail population,” he said.
The ACLU told CapCon, “Forcibly strip searching a person without suspicion who is being held for a minor infraction is a heavy-handed solution in search of a nonexistent problem.”
