Bergen County along with a half of NJ counties allow the "practice of routinely strip-searching detainees entering county jails, regardless of the offense charged". Any crime of the 4th degree and above subjects one to be so searched. Those opposed say it is a violation of the 4th Amendment. Such searches in Camden, Cumberland, Mercer and Salem counties have already been settled in class action suits for anywhere from $ 7.5 million to $ 640,000. Legal challenges are on-going in Bergen and other counties in the state. Some of those searched were being held for non-payment of child support and traffic tickets. The searches involved "inspection of naked bodies...as well as visual inspection of their body cavities...in front of officers or other detainees. In one case a detainee was "required to spread his legs, bend over and lift his scotum". The plaintiffs want monetary damages, a county statement that the practice is unconstitutional and a end to the practice.
(Source: "Strip-search lawsuits spiraling" by Peter J. Sampson of The Record. February 3, 2009).
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