Case: Dufrin v. Spreen

Unknown | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Filed Date: 1982

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Case Summary

Plaintiff filed a lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against Oakland County Sheriff in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Plaintiff, represented by private counsel, alleged her Fourth Amendment rights were violated when she was subjected to a visual body-cavity search.Plaintiff was arrested on October 10, 1978, and subjected to a visual body-cavity search. According to policy, all female prisoners in the Oakland County Jail were subjected to this search.The Uni…

Plaintiff was arrested on October 10, 1978, and subjected to a visual body-cavity search. According to policy, all female prisoners in the Oakland County Jail were subjected to this search.

The United States District Court (Judge Horace W. Gilmore) directed a verdict for plaintiff after a six-day trial and a jury awarded plaintiff $47,500 in damages plus interest and costs, with a final judgment of $55,899. Defendant appealed.

On July 29, 1983, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (Judges Pierce Lively, Albert J. Engel, Jr., and Paul C. Weick) reversed. The Court held that the visual body-cavity search did not violate plaintiff's Fourth Amendment rights because (1) Plaintiff was charged with a felony involving violence, (2) Plaintiff would come into contact with the general jail population, (3) the search was only visual and was conducted discreetly and in privacy. Dufrin v. Spreen, 712 F.2d 1084 (6th Cir. 1983).

On November 7, 1983, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied rehearing en banc.

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Summary Authors

Shira Gordon (3/24/2012)