Lawsuit filed over sidewalk strip-search

Lawsuit filed over sidewalk strip-search

www.marketwatch.com

BALTIMORE, Feb 4, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A Baltimore man alleges in a lawsuit that city police officers strip-searched him on a busy street corner in front of a crowd of about 30 onlookers.

The $210 million suit filed in federal court is the second filed in less than a year against the city's Special Enforcement Team alleging civil rights violations, the Baltimore Sun said Wednesday.

The suit alleged that while officers searched the vehicle, another officer pulled on a rubber glove, ordered Martin to drop his pants and "to the plaintiff's complete and utter horror, in broad daylight and in the presence (of) the gathered crowd," carried out a rectal exam that turned up nothing unusual.

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Related News Links:
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Saw this on the local news and I was appalled.

I actually had a friend that lived in the area. It's a bit low income but a very mixed neighborhood with very decent people. No one deserves this sort of humiliation and abuse. Even if he was found to have been in possession, there are laws in place to prevent this sort of thing happening to anyone. It's called a trial, and we are innocent until proven guilty, not guilty until proven guilty.

Surprisingly this is not the first time something like this has happened in Baltimore. A man was stripped searched in broad daylight and it was on video...but those cops didn't go so far as to conduct a CAVITY SEARCH.

Dear God.

His lawyer on the news said they just dropped the glove and left. His client has retrieved it and it will be used as evidence.

This, along with the recent video of the female being stripped searched by males has me thinking that the police are becoming more and more brazen with their abuses. Make no mistake though, this is nothing new, but I am glad that it is coming to the surface.



- Lee

www.marketwatch.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

"I felt like I was raped that day, like my manhood was gone," Martin said quietly, pausing to collect himself. "I didn't deserve this at all. I don't think anyone deserves what I went through ... I thought they were going to kill me."

Baltimore Sun

Poor guy.

If these officers are guilty, and according to the many witnesses this did happen, I hope he not only wins, but they face charges of sexual assault.

Among other things.

- Lee

This is why I always keep a "torpedo in the tube" so to speak, lol. If this ever happens to me I guarantee the offending officer will be in for a smelly surprise.

That guy should be glad that it wasn't Shaquille O'Neal doing the rectum exam.


Seriously, these guys need a new line of work. It is obvious they have no common decency and much less sense to follow proper procedure. The sad part is that the average taxpayer will end up paying for these cops stupidity.

I got pulled over last summer, and I must say, the female officer was hot! I mean smoking!

She asked to see my DL and registration, and I joked with her a bit before asking her if she'd like to pat me down, or search me, or anything else I could do to make her task more complete.

She laughed, and told me that wouldn't be necessary.

And, I got out of the ticket!

Originally posted by lee anoma

"I felt like I was raped that day, like my manhood was gone," Martin said quietly, pausing to collect himself. "I didn't deserve this at all. I don't think anyone deserves what I went through ... I thought they were going to kill me."

Baltimore Sun

Poor guy.

If these officers are guilty, and according to the many witnesses this did happen, I hope he not only wins, but they face charges of sexual assault.

Among other things.

- Lee

I'm sure that's exactly how he felt that day...... after his lawyer told him to say that word for word.

If its true then fire the cops but enough of this BS million dollar lawsuits for stuff like this. This is a very small part of the reason we have states going under today. The same guy would have ran down the street naked or allowed somebody to give him a public exam if I offered him 10k cash. The only difference is he would have had a smile on his face.

This is akin to not checking that the lid on your coffee cup is secure before stuffing it between your thighs and driving away. The guy should have said "Show me probable cause. I do not consent to a search. Go get a warrant." Instead of dropping his pants in front of a crowd.
NOT that it's any justification for police conducting a cavity search. Much less in public.

I'm just saying know your rights.

Enforce your rights.

No one else will do it for you.

Originally posted by whoshotJR

I'm sure that's exactly how he felt that day...... after his lawyer told him to say that word for word.

If its true then fire the cops but enough of this BS million dollar lawsuits for stuff like this. This is a very small part of the reason we have states going under today. The same guy would have ran down the street naked or allowed somebody to give him a public exam if I offered him 10k cash. The only difference is he would have had a smile on his face.

WOW. Oh my God, I hope you are kidding. Those cops were completely insensitive to human decency. Getting an anal probe is not a regular part of my work week. No, getting an anal probe .... my God man......

Originally posted by Busymind
This is akin to not checking that the lid on your coffee cup is secure before stuffing it between your thighs and driving away. The guy should have said "Show me probable cause. I do not consent to a search. Go get a warrant." Instead of dropping his pants in front of a crowd.
NOT that it's any justification for police conducting a cavity search. Much less in public.

I'm just saying know your rights.

Enforce your rights.

No one else will do it for you.

I take it you have never had a bad experience with a police man. Cops are not supposed to do cavity searches on public streets. Surely this makes sense to everyone. So the cops, who have guns and batons and back up and know the "command voice", the cops who have been trained in police academies that all the other cops go to instigate a strip cavity search in broad daylight and it is the CITIZEN who is at fault???????

Absolute madness.

reply to post by stikkinikki


So you think that what happened to him is worth 2 million dollars. Now think hard on this one about where the 2 million will come from. Maybe because of the 2 million the state says the can no longer pay out on food stamps and people starve. Maybe a few teachers lose their jobs.

I didn't say what they did was right I'm saying take the correct action against the cops i.e. fire them or their trainers/boss or all of the above and maybe throw the guy 10,000.

ATS seems to me to be very anti cops lately because of story's of bad eggs. Just like you cant judge 1 person and make that judgment apply to all people you cant do it with police. Yet more often then not in these type of story's you get people that start posting about how all cops are criminal thugs with badges and do nothing but beat the public.

Do you really think what he went through ( if it happened just like above) should be worth 2 million dollars to him?

reply to post by stikkinikki

Actually, I have had bad experiences with police officers. One of their favorite tricks was to accuse teenage girls out after dark of prostitution and give you a choice between jail and some time in the back seat of the car.
I know my rights and I knew them back then. I never went to jail for alleged prostitution :p And I'm not saying the victim is at fault here. I'm saying word to the wise: Know your rights. Say no. You may still get strip searched or beaten or tazed; in which case you can sue for millions.

Originally posted by whoshotJR
reply to post by stikkinikki

 

Do you really think what he went through ( if it happened just like above) should be worth 2 million dollars to him?

Absolutely, but the cops should pay personally at least half ot it.

Ok, if you don't want to deter this criminal sexual assault by monetary means, how about an eye for an eye justice? Let the cop be taken to the same location and let his victim do a public rectal assault in the same manner for the same length of time?

I think 2 million is not unreasonable but then again I think anal rape in public is a pretty heinous thing. That is basically what this was. Bad cops have to be punished and lawsuits such as this serve to put the government, mayors, police chiefs, whoever is in charge of training should be made aware that letting your employees get wild at the publics expense is going to result in less money for other programs. There has to be deterants that help point the system down the correct path.

I've had one bad experience with cops and many good ones including working with them on special projects. I don't hate all cops at all, I just loathe the way the military-industrial complex is oozing into our daily lives. I loathe big brother and especially big brother acting like a thug.
Our rights and laws must be respected by citizen and cop alike. No special rights you know?