Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse

Case: Wilkes v. Sheahan

1:01-cv-01592 | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Filed Date: March 7, 2001

Closed Date: 2001

Clearinghouse coding complete

Case Summary

On March 7, 2001, three pretrial detainees filed a 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1988 lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, challenging the Cook County Sheriff's policies of strip searching female pre-trial detainees (a) upon their admission to the Cook County Jail, (b) upon their return to the jail from court, and (c) at random. These searches, Plaintiffs alleged, were conducted on groups of 15 to 40 women at a time, in plain view of male guards, and in unsanitary and repulsive conditions. The searches included inspections of body cavities, without regard to whether women were on their menstrual cycle. Attack dogs were unleashed to sniff the women, while guards admonished them that the dogs would bite if drugs were discovered. Plaintiffs claimed that such searches and conduct violated their rights under the Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments and sought monetary damages, injunctive relief, and class certification. On July 5, 2001, an amended complaint was filed adding three additional named plaintiffs to the lawsuit.

A settlement conference was held by the District Court (Judge John W. Darrah) on April 26, 2001. According to the PACER docket, numerous status conferences were held thereafter until it appears that a settlement was reached. The case was dismissed by agreement of the parties on August 22, 2001. Terms of the settlement are unknown, but it seems to have been reached jointly with Gary v. Sheahan, JC-IL-7.

We have no further information on this case.

show full summary

Summary Authors

Dan Dalton (2/25/2008)

People

Judge(s)

Ashman, Martin C. (Illinois)

Darrah, John W. (Illinois)

Attorneys(s) for Plaintiff

Farley, Robert Hugh Jr. (Illinois)

Morrissey, Thomas Gerard (Illinois)

Attorneys(s) for Defendant

Burnham, Thomas M. (Illinois)

Castiglione, Paul Anthony (Illinois)

Driscoll, Patrick T. Jr. (Illinois)

Jacobs, Michael David (Illinois)

Judge(s)

Ashman, Martin C. (Illinois)

Darrah, John W. (Illinois)

Attorneys(s) for Plaintiff

Farley, Robert Hugh Jr. (Illinois)

Morrissey, Thomas Gerard (Illinois)

Attorneys(s) for Defendant

Burnham, Thomas M. (Illinois)

Castiglione, Paul Anthony (Illinois)

Driscoll, Patrick T. Jr. (Illinois)

Jacobs, Michael David (Illinois)

show all people

Documents in the Clearinghouse

	Document
	Docket (PACER)	Aug. 22, 2001	Docket
1	Complaint	March 7, 2001	Complaint
23	Amended Complaint	July 5, 2001	Complaint

Resources

Title	Description		External URL
Jail Strip-Search Cases: Patterns and Participants Margo Schlanger	This article looks at jail strip-search litigation and its participants, to analyze its internal dynamics. Among the interesting features of these cases is that many different kinds of lawyers work …	April 1, 2008	https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/...

Docket

Last updated May 12, 2022, 8 p.m.

ECF Number	Description	Date
1	COMPLAINT (Exhibit) - Civil cover sheet - Appearance(s) of Thomas Gerard Morrissey and Robert Hugh Farley Jr. as attorney(s) for plaintiffs Crystal Wilkes, Sharon Hollister and Tonya Townsend (One Original and one copy summons(es) issued.) ( Documents: 1-1 through 1-3) (hp) (Entered: 03/08/2001)	March 7, 2001
	RECEIPT regarding payment of filing fee paid; on 3/7/01 in the amount of $ 150.00, receipt # 1023380. (hp) (Entered: 03/08/2001)	March 7, 2001
7	MOTION by plaintiffs for temporary restraining order ; Notice (las) (Entered: 03/16/2001)	March 7, 2001
2	ATTORNEY APPEARANCE for defendant by Michael David Jacobs, Patrick T. Driscoll Jr., Paul Anthony Castiglione, Thomas M. Burnham. (mw) (Entered: 03/12/2001)	March 9, 2001
9	MOTION by plaintiffs to certify a class ; Notice (yap) (Entered: 03/19/2001)	March 9, 2001
3	MOTION by defendant to dismiss plaintiff's complaint ; Memorandum in support (Attachments); Notice (las) (Entered: 03/13/2001)	March 12, 2001
4	MOTION by defendant for leave to file a memorandum of law in excess of 15 pages (las) (Entered: 03/13/2001)	March 12, 2001
5	MEMORANDUM by plaintiffs in support of plaintiffs' application for temporary restraining order (Attachments) ; Notice (las) (Entered: 03/13/2001)	March 12, 2001
6	SUPPLEMENTAL authority by defendant in connection with plaintiff's proposed motion for a temporary restraining order; Notice. (yp) (Entered: 03/15/2001)	March 13, 2001
8	MINUTE ORDER of 3/13/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Plaintiffs' motion for temporary restraining order is granted [7-1]. Mailed notice. (las) (Entered: 03/16/2001)	March 13, 2001
	SCHEDULE set on 3/14/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Preliminary injunction hearing set for 10:00 4/2/01 . Mailed notice (ldg) (Entered: 03/14/2001)	March 14, 2001
11	MOTION by plaintiffs' to file verifications instanter (Attachments). (vmj) (Entered: 03/22/2001)	March 14, 2001
12	RESPONSE by plaintiffs to defendant's motion to dismiss plaintiff's complaint [3-1] (Attachments). (vmj) (Entered: 03/22/2001)	March 14, 2001
10	MINUTE ORDER of 3/15/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah: Defendant's response to plaintiff's motion to certify a class [9-1] to be filed on or before 3/22/01. Plaintiff's reply to be filed on or before 3/28/01. Hearing set for 4/2/01 at 10:00 a.m. [9-1]. Mailed notice (yap) (Entered: 03/19/2001)	March 15, 2001
	SCHEDULE set on 3/16/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Status hearing set to 9:30 4/12/01 . Mailed notice (wah) (Entered: 03/16/2001)	March 16, 2001
15	EMERGENCY MOTION by plaintiffs to compel defendant to provide immediate access to the records sought in the notice to inspect (Attachments); Notice. (cem) (Entered: 03/26/2001)	March 19, 2001
16	MINUTE ORDER of 3/20/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah: Emergency motion to compel discussed on the record. No notice (cem) (Entered: 03/26/2001)	March 20, 2001
13	SECOND EMERGENCY MOTION by plaintiffs to compel (Attachments); Notice. (mw) (Entered: 03/23/2001)	March 21, 2001
	SCHEDULE set on 3/22/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Preliminary injunction hearing set for 4/2/01 is striken and reset to 10:00 a.m. 5/7/01 . Mailed notice (ldg) (Entered: 03/23/2001)	March 22, 2001
14	EMERGENCY MOTION by defendant for leave to file documents which bear on plaintiffs' "emergency motion" (Attachments); Notice. (mw) (Entered: 03/23/2001)	March 22, 2001
17	RESPONSE by defendant to plaintiff's motion for class certification [9- 1]; Notice. (yp) (Entered: 03/26/2001)	March 22, 2001
18	REPLY by plaintiffs to defendant's response to motion for class certification [17-1] (Attachments). (yp) (Entered: 03/27/2001)	March 26, 2001
19	TRANSCRIPT of proceedings for the following date(s): 3/14/01 before Honorable John W. Darrah. (maf) (Entered: 03/30/2001)	March 29, 2001
	SCHEDULE set on 4/6/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Status hearing set for 4/12/01 is stricken and reset to 9:30 5/9/01 . Mailed notice (ldg) (Entered: 04/06/2001)	April 6, 2001
20	MOTION by plaintiffs to set a date for the deposition of Sheila Vaughan or in the alternative to allow Ms. Vaufhan testify out of turn at the preliminary injuction hearing (Attachments); Notice (las) (Entered: 04/16/2001)	April 6, 2001
	SCHEDULE set on 4/12/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Settlement conference set for 11:30 4/26/01 . Mailed notice (ldg) (Entered: 04/12/2001)	April 12, 2001
21	MINUTE ORDER of 4/12/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Plaintiff's motion to set a date for the deposition of Sheila Vaughan [20-1] or in the alternative to allow Ms. Vaufhan to testify out of turn at the preliminary injuction hearing is granted [20-2]. Settlement conference set for 11:30 a.m. on 4/26/01. Mailed notice. (las) (Entered: 04/16/2001)	April 12, 2001
	SCHEDULE set on 4/26/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Status hearing set to 9:30 5/10/01 . Settlement conference held. Preliminary injunction hearing set for 5/7/01 is stricken. Mailed notice (ldg) (Entered: 04/26/2001)	April 26, 2001
	SCHEDULE set on 5/10/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Status hearing held and continued to 9:30 5/24/01 . Mailed notice (ldg) (Entered: 05/11/2001)	May 10, 2001
	SCHEDULE set on 5/24/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Status hearing held and continued to 9:30 5/29/01 . Mailed notice (ldg) (Entered: 05/24/2001)	May 24, 2001
	SCHEDULE set on 5/29/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Status hearing held and continued to 9:30 6/20/01 . Mailed notice (ldg) (Entered: 06/01/2001)	May 29, 2001
	SCHEDULE set on 6/14/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Status hearing set for 6/20/01 is stricken and reset to 9:30 6/25/01 . Mailed notice (ldg) (Entered: 06/14/2001)	June 14, 2001
22	MINUTE ORDER of 6/25/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Status hearing held and continued to 7/5/01 at 9:30 a.m. Plaintiff's oral motion to amend complaint to and including 7/9/01 is granted. The matter of attorney fees will be referred to Judge Coar for consolidation with his fee issue. Mailed notice (eav) (Entered: 06/27/2001)	June 25, 2001
23	AMENDED COMPLAINT [1-1] by plaintiffs; Adding Sherrille Maynie, Marvella Everette, Kristine Ricks; Notice. (fce) (Entered: 07/06/2001)	July 5, 2001
	SCHEDULE set on 7/5/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Status hearing held and continued to 9:30 8/9/01 . Mailed notice (ldg) (Entered: 07/06/2001)	July 5, 2001
	SCHEDULE set on 8/8/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Status hearing set 8/9/01 is stricken and reset to 9:30 8/16/01 . Mailed notice (ldg) (Entered: 08/08/2001)	Aug. 8, 2001
	SCHEDULE set on 8/13/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah : Status hearing set for 8/16/01 is stricken and reset to 9:30 8/22/01 . Mailed notice (ldg) (Entered: 08/13/2001)	Aug. 13, 2001
24	MINUTE ORDER of 8/22/01 by Hon. John W. Darrah: By agreement of the parties and stipulation to dismiss, this cause is dismissed. Terminating case. Mailed notice. (fce) (Entered: 08/27/2001)	Aug. 22, 2001

State / Territory: Illinois

Case Type(s):

Jail Conditions

Special Collection(s):

Strip Search Cases

Key Dates

Filing Date: March 7, 2001

Closing Date: 2001

Case Ongoing: No

Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Description:

Six women who were brought to the Cook County Jail on arrests made relating to minor offenses and who were then strip searched in front of other inmates and officers.

Plaintiff Type(s):

Private Plaintiff

Public Interest Lawyer: No

Filed Pro Se: No

Class Action Sought: Yes

Class Action Outcome: Denied

Defendants

Cook County Department of Corrections (Cook), County

Cook County Sheriff (Cook), County

Case Details

Causes of Action:

42 U.S.C. § 1983