Facts: Albert Florence (Plaintiff) was physically searched twice in seven days after he was arrested on a bench warrant for a traffic violation that he previously paid. Florence filed a lawsuit against the Burlington County Correctional System challenging that the search was unreasonable because he was being held for failure to pay a fine for a traffic violation, which is a minor offense in minor offense in the city of New Jersey. [1]
Procedural History: In 2003, a bench warrant was issued for the arrest of Albert Florence (Plaintiff) due to his failure to pay a fine executed after a previous conviction for a minor traffic violation in New Jersey. Florence paid the fine, but the warrant was not removed from the statewide database. Approximately two years later Florence was arrested and transported to the Burlington County Detention Center. Burlington County Detention Center policy and procedures require that the Correctional Officers have a close visual inspection (strip search) of every new inmate entering the …show more content…
The Court stated Correctional Officials have a valid interest and responsibility, to make sure that the jail is secure because of what new inmates may transport in or on their bodies. Inmates incarcerated for minor offenses can turn out to be the most deceitful and dangerous criminals. Justice Kennedy, who wrote in his decision, Courts must accept the judgment of the correctional officials except when the record holds considerable evidence displaying their policies are an unnecessary or unfounded answer to the difficulties of the jail security.[6] In his disagreement, Justice Breyer noted that, a search of an inmate arrested for a minor offense that does not include drugs or violence like a traffic offense, or any other such misdemeanor is an unreasonable search is prohibited by the Fourth Amendment, unless prison officials have reasonable suspicion to trust that the inmate holds drugs or other smuggled goods on their