Judge Rules Juvenile Screening Unconstitutional

{Lexington, Kentucky}...U.S. Senior District Judge Karl S. Forester recently ruled that an eastern Kentucky juvenile facility's screening of naked teens in 2009 was unconstitutional. The case stems from intake screenings at the Breathitt Regional Juvenile Detention Center, where two half-siblings were taken after being charged with underage drinking. The charges were dropped, and the teens' parents sued the guards, the center, its director and state juvenile justice officials. Forester noted in his ruling that the U.S. Sixth Judicial Circuit has held since 2004 that unclothed visual observation of a juvenile accused of a non-violent offense violates the Fourth Amendment in the absence of individualized reasonable suspicion of possession of contraband. At the time the teens were picked up, the department's policy called for all detainees to disrobe before being screened during which time guards checked them for illness, injury, abuse or neglect, but Forester said guards at the facility weren't medically qualified to make that determination.