NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A judge has ruled that prison officials in Virginia broke the law when they “willingly and knowingly” withheld information about strip searches.
The Virginian-Pilot reported Wednesday that Norfolk Circuit Judge Junius Fulton III had ruled in the newspaper’s favor in a lawsuit filed over the strip searches.
Pilot reporter Gary Harki had utilized the state’s Freedom of Information Act to request strip search records. They included the names of prisoner visitors who’d been strip searched, the reasons for the search and those who were banned for refusing to be strip searched.
The newspaper was following up on reporting that shows that prison officials strip searched visitors who were anywhere form the age of 1 to 83. Officials also had threatened to permanently ban them from visiting prisoners if they refused to be searched.
Harki’s articles led to state laws that now regulate searches.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.