Bull v. San Francisco, No. 05-17080

In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action making a Fourth Amendment facial challenge to San Francisco's policy requiring a strip search of all arrestees who were to be introduced into San Francisco's general jail population for custodial housing, denial of summary judgment to defendants based on qualified immunity is reversed where the balance between the need for the strip search policy, due to contraband problems in the jail system, and the invasion of personal rights that the search entailed, weighed in favor of the jail system's institutional concerns.

Read Bull v. San Francisco, No. 05-17080

Appellate Information

Argued March 26, 2009

Submitted April 10, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Ikuta

Concurrence by Judge Kozinski

Concurrence by Judge Graber

Dissent by Judge Thomas

Counsel

For Appellants:

Dennis J. Herrera, Danny Chou, and David B. Newdorf, San Francisco City Attorney's Office, San Francisco, CA

For Appellees:

Mark E. Merin and Cathleen A. Williams, Law Office of Mark E. Merin, San Francisco