Alameda, california sheriff named in 2nd strip-search suit -san francisco chronicle

An Oakland man who says he was strip-searched in an Alameda County jail after a drunken-driving arrest has filed a federal class-action suit accusing the county of conducting the searches without evidence that detainees are hiding weapons or contraband.

Alameda County jailers routinely conduct strip-searches and visual body-cavity searches without having a "reasonable suspicion that the search will be productive of contraband or weapons," said the suit, which names the county and Sheriff Greg Ahern.

"This is the most dehumanizing thing you can do to somebody," Merin said. "The people who are charged with minor offenses, who haven't been arraigned, should at least be protected so they aren't naked unless they have some reason to believe they're concealing something. You can't have a blanket search."