Bell v. Wolfish

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Bell v. Wolfish
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 16, 1979 Decided May 14, 1979
Full case name: Griffin Bell, Attorney General, et al. v. Wolfish, et al. Citations: 441 U.S. 520; 99 S. Ct. 1861; 60 L. Ed. 2d 447; 1979 U.S. LEXIS 100 Prior history: Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Holding
The Fourth Amendment does not prohibit strip searches and similar intrusive conduct against persons being held in federal prison while awaiting trial.
Court membership
Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger Associate Justices: William J. Brennan, Potter Stewart, Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun, Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr., William Rehnquist, John Paul Stevens
Case opinions
Majority by: Rehnquist Joined by: Burger, Stewart, White, Blackmun Concurrence/dissent by: Powell Dissent by: Marshall Dissent by: Stevens Joined by: Brennan
Laws applied
U.S. Const., amend. IV

Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520 (1979)^[1], is a case in which the United States Supreme Court found that it was not a violation of the Fourth Amendment to perform body cavity searches, strip searches, and the like on persons being held in prison pending a criminal trial, in order to reduce contraband and weapons in the prisons.

[edit] External link

• ↑ 441 U.S. 520 (Text of the opinion on Findlaw.com)