In a significant ruling last Friday, a federal judge in Louisiana declared that the Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) practice of strip-searching individuals who had not been arrested was “unconstitutional on its face.” The judge emphasized that probable cause, rather than reasonable suspicion, is required for such searches according to established Supreme Court precedent.
The court critiqued the BRPD’s strip search policy, which permitted officers to conduct strip searches based merely on reasonable suspicion. This threshold is considerably lower than the standard of probable cause. Notably, the policy’s language, which suggested that “reasonable suspicion and probable cause will be based on the same factors,” was identified as misleading and not tenable from a legal standpoint. The judge argued that conflating these distinct thresholds undermines constitutional rights.
The recent ruling underscores that the policy was not only at odds with established legal precedents but also lacked clear directives for officers in the field. It restricts the ability of police to perform strip searches on “non-arrestees based on individualized articulable reasonable suspicion” of being armed or carrying illegal substances. The judge clarified, “In no way does the Court wish to reduce the tools available to police officers to achieve this safety … However, these tools must be used and applied in a constitutional manner.”
BRPD Chief of Police Thomas Morse, Jr. confirmed during his testimony that the existing General Order No. 281 did allow for strip searches based on reasonable suspicion. Although potential amendments to the policy were being considered, none addressed the crucial issue of the reasonable suspicion standard for such searches.
This ruling is part of a broader context involving a lawsuit filed last year against BRPD, accusing the department of severe beatings and invasive searches of individuals detained at a facility known as the “Brave Cave.” This facility has since been shut down and came under FBI scrutiny, leading to a federal civil rights investigation. The mayor also disbanded the police department’s street crimes unit, and an officer implicated in these allegations, who is the son of a deputy chief, resigned and was arrested on a simple battery charge.
For further details, you can access the full text of the ruling here.
[More information on this case can be found on the JURIST website]