Lancaster County and former inmates of Lancaster County Prison have reached a $2.5 million agreement to settle a federal class-action lawsuit over blanket strip searches.
Anyone strip-searched while held in prison on minor charges between Aug. 22, 2005, and July 28, 2009, is eligible for benefits under the settlement, approved by federal district court in September.
The agreement could affect thousands of former inmates. They could claim between $50 and $900 each, depending on how they were processed when admitted to prison.
The agreement also has ended the prison's practice of strip-searching inmates imprisoned on minor charges.
Lancaster County commissioners chairman Dennis Stuckey Monday provided a press release that emphasizes that the county's insurer, Travelers Insurance, agreed to the settlement, which will not affect the county's deductible.
The settlement amount agreed to here is lower than in the majority of other strip-search cases settled throughout the country, according to the press release.
The release says there were "approximately 24,000 prison commitments" here from 2005 to 2009.
A team of seven Philadelphia-area attorneys filed the lawsuit. Kimberly Donaldson, the lead attorney, did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment on the settlement.
Donaldson filed the suit against the county and the county Prison Board on behalf of Sajan Kurian and Michael Rhodes in 2007.
Kurian was imprisoned in 2006 for violating parole on a drunken driving charge by driving under the influence a second time.
Rhodes was imprisoned in 2005 and again in 2006 because he missed domestic relations hearings.
Kurian claimed in the lawsuit that he was "patted down" by correctional officers and walked through a metal detector before he was strip-searched.
Other inmates, who also were strip-searched, were present when a correctional officer used a flashlight to inspect Kurian's anal cavity, according to the lawsuit.
Rhodes claimed he and other detainees were ordered to strip and inspected with a flashlight.
Guards told the group that if they did not comply they would be "thumped," or physically hit, according to the suit.
Responding to the lawsuit, the county and Prison Board denied that Kurian and Rhodes were strip-searched and that the prison has a policy of strip searching all prisoners.
The county continues to deny any wrongdoing but has agreed to settle the suit to avoid the expense of extended litigation, according to the settlement statement.
Under terms of the settlement, the prison stopped blanket strip searches of inmates in April. The prison pledges not to strip-search inmates charged with minor offenses in the future.
The settlement specifically defines minor offenses as "misdemeanors, summary offenses, traffic infractions, civil commitments, bench warrants, violations of probation, parole or Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition."
Those facing such charges cannot be strip-searched without "reasonable suspicion" according to the settlement agreement.
The county must pay up to $2.5 million to a settlement fund. Inmates who were strip-searched under the old policy will get most of that money.
Because he filed the suit, Kurian will get $15,000. Rhodes, who joined the suit several months later, will get $7,500.
Up to $750,000 will go to attorney fees.
The settlement notes that any debts that inmates owe the county will be subtracted from the payout.
Claims must be made by March 1.
The U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on who can and cannot be strip-searched in prison. The 3rd Circuit, which includes Pennsylvania, has not ruled on the issue.
With the law unsettled, counties are handling the matter in varied ways.
In an agreement similar to Lancaster's, Dauphin County settled a $2.16 million class-action strip-search lawsuit in May.
The Philadelphia County courts are processing a proposed $5.9 million settlement of a strip-search suit.
Allegheny County is contesting a strip-search suit. An attorney representing the county last month argued in a federal courtroom that routine strip searches for minor offenses should be permitted.
An attorney representing inmates told the court that strip searches are "humiliating and degrading," as well as unnecessary because of modern technology.