Ninth Circus guts strip search rules

For decades, a firm national standard has governed strip searches of jail inmates: Strip searches can only be used when inmates are suspected of violent crimes or hiding contraband.

That's the rule.

But now these longstanding guidelines have been utterly gutted by - who else? - the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It's the court where everything we hold dear about America always comes to an end.

Can someone tell me again how conservatives manage to claim the Ninth Circus is too liberal?

Because of this ruling, jails can now do full cavity searches of inmates arrested even for nonviolent charges - even when nobody suspects them of bringing in contraband.

The case was filed by a woman who was arrested on suspicion of vandalism in San Francisco. She was forcibly searched, thrown face-first onto the floor of the jail, and left naked in a cell for 12 hours. The woman was later released with no charges.

The Ninth Circus's new ruling lets police brutalize citizens even for minor charges - or in this case, no charges at all.

Bushism lives on.

(Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/09/BA911BV2ER.DTL&tsp=1)