US Government Pays $475,000 For Illegally Searching Woman's Vagina

ZeroHedge.com ^ | July 28, 2016 | Tyler Durden

[Perseverando]

Have you lost that loving feeling? If so, the United States federal government might just be able to help.

Before you swipe right on Tinder or update that eHarmony account, consider instead taking a quick trip out of the country.

Because on your way back home into the Land of the Free, US Customs and Border Protection will have agents standing by ready with heaps of government stimulus.

It happened to a Jane Doe (the name has been withheld to protect what little remains of her dignity), a 54-year old US citizen who had recently been on a trip to Mexico.

As she was returning home via the Cordova Bridge border crossing in El Paso, she was randomly selected for extra special screening and escorted to a private area.

I’ve been there. It’s not fun. They don’t tell you anything, and they don’t say why.

They act very aggressively and start barking orders at you as if you’re already a prison inmate.

Quite frequently you can sit there wasting away for hours. Fortunately for me, nothing particularly sinister ever happened. For Ms. Doe, it was quite the opposite.

According to the published case files, she was frisked, and then ordered to squat so that a drug-sniffing dog could check out her nether regions.

Apparently the dog liked what he smelled, because Ms. Doe was then taken to yet another room, ordered to pull down her pants, and crouch.

At that point an agent from Customs and Border Protection “inspected her anus with a flashlight.”

She was then ordered to lean backwards in a crouched position, after which another agent inserted a speculum into her vagina to search for drugs.

Another agent then “parted Ms. Doe’s vulva with her hand, pressed her fingers into Ms. Doe’s vagina, and visually examined her

[Theoria]

Stripped, cavity searched and billed, lawsuit says[FR]

ACLU suing over reported body cavity drug searches (NM - Another invasive search by gov't agents)

And this one was done to a 18yr girl.

U.S. citizen sues over border body cavity search

[usurper]

ordered to squat so that a drug-sniffing dog could check out her nether regions.

No US citizen should agree to such a request. I would have said, "Are you out of your freaking mind the answer is NO."

If they decided to get rough I would accommodate them and give them the fight of their lives. I would rather accept the beat down and then sue the hell out of them then to agree to be probed.

[upchuck]

From the article:

[If] one of the victims goes public, the government refuses to admit its own culpability and pays them off with taxpayer funds.

Just think about that: YOUR tax money is going to pay off the US government’s sexual assault victims.

My day has been made. Thank you US government.

[USCG SimTech]

Lapsing into the 5th straight hour of “examination”, suspicion arose

[GBA]

But did the "agents" who did this to her have to pay?

Did they themselves feel any painful, negative consequences earned by and due their actions??

Or were their painful, negative consequences simply passed on to we, the taxpayers, so that NOTHING ever changes???

[Buckeye McFrog]

The bulk of jurisprudence on this up to now has held that until you clear immigration you are NOT technically in the United States. Hence your Constitutional Rights are in limbo, and the agents can do pretty much whatever they want to you.

The problems implied in that are obvious.

[Carthego delenda est]

Pingaling- Another New Mexican citizen subjected to hours of X-rays and cavity probes.

[The Antiyuppie]

“Sorry to hear this happened to an innocent woman but $475,000? “

I’m “sorry”, but sorry doesn’t cut it here, chief.

Assuming that you are a man, exactly how much would you “settle” for, exactly, if under color and force of law, strangers, non-medical personnel, started putting objects of dubious origin and cleanliness into your orifices?

There are some things I find very attractive about Arabic views of law. Certainly, we should be open-minded enough to take the best ideas from other cultures. Here, the wrong people (the taxpayers) are being very slightly indirectly punished although they are indirectly RESPONSIBLE, because they let this happen, and the actual perps will probably at most get fired. Using some of the best ideas from Arabic law, this type of problem would very quickly end when the people who perpetrated this wound up each missing the hands that they used, and no “medical disability retirement”, either. Then they can explain to their next employer exactly how that happened.

[kitchen]

Are you sure you want their hands on your food?

[Marie]

Good!

This isn’t the first time that this has happened, but it needs to be the last.

[Carthego delenda est]

The filed lawsuit reads like a sexual torture session.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2996966-Doevelpasohospdist-Filed.html

That being said, I have a hard time understanding how ‘trained’ CBP agents have acted soooooo stupidly! I live in this area and know a number of moral and decent CBP agents who work this region, and I cannot possibly imagine the ones I know doing something like this. Quite the contrary, they’d be much more likely to respond to the treatment of ‘Jane Doe’ much the same way FReepers say they would! These so called ‘doctors’ who performed the ‘examinations’ are absolutely without excuse, but it comes as no surprise to me, because ‘doctors’ of the same mind set who work at the Gila Regional Medical Center (the largest hospital near the border in SW New Mexico) have done the EXACT SAME THING to other unsuspecting victims around this same time frame (2012).

According to the lawsuit, Mrs ‘Jane Doe’ of Lovington NM recently received her passport and had been looking forward to traveling abroad. Also noted was that she has a close friend whom she referred to as her “uncle”, who had been deported, that she makes an effort to visit at least once a month in Juarez. It would be very interesting to know why the close ‘uncle’ had been deported since here in New Mexico it seems that NONE of the illegals here ever get deported short of committing some violent crime or ‘major’ drug offense, and even then, they usually just come right back across the border and take up where they left off. It is very possible the CBP agents had much more undisclosed information regarding Mrs Jane Doe’s activities and association with the ‘Uncle’, but there’s absolutely NO excuse for their prolonged sexual violation of her once their initial ‘cavity free’ search came up negative.

In the future, IF it is found that Mrs Jane Doe is indeed involved with drug smuggling, and/or the Mexican cartels, which are VERY active in smuggling in this area, I hope her activities become abundantly clear, leaving no room for doubt, and that she’s busted in a way that will fine her for more than double that which she has now received from the U.S. taxpayers. Until that time comes, if ever, she absolutely IS an innocent victim and richly deserves every penny she has received for arguably the worst 6 hours of her life, which could be described as nothing less than rape and sexual torture perpetrated by so called ‘doctors’ and CBP officers of the United States.

[TangoLimaSierra]

Man! I really need to get me one of those vaginas!

They're all worth that if they are applied correctly.

[CedarDave]

This is the case of a 54-year old married lady from Lovington down here in the oil patch. I personally think the settlement is too little (attorneys will take 1/3 to 1/2 of the $475k and the tax man will take more) and she had to sign a form that says the settlement should “not be taken as an admission of liability or fault.”

Links to previous articles:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3453945/posts?page=21#21

Link to the lawsuit complaint:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2996966-Doevelpasohospdist-Filed.html

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[Tammy8]

But as you can imagine, there were strings attached, specifically that the settlement should “not be taken as an admission of liability or fault.”

The government settled because they did not want this to go to court...if they lose one of these sort of cases then they have to stop this type of thing. Most case law pretty much says Customs can do as they please at the borders as far as searching, probing you, taking apart your vehicle. The government doesn't want any court decisions that say otherwise.

I understand to her a settlement meant she didn't have to go through the court testimony and could just go on with her life. As far as future incidents like this, there was no court ruling against this behavior so it will likely occur again.

I am surprised they allowed the amount of her settlement to be made public, most of the time the settlement and amount is kept from the public.

[Carthego delenda est]

“I personally think the settlement is too little...”

I agree.

[CedarDave]

It would be very interesting to know why the close ‘uncle’ had been deported since here in New Mexico it seems that NONE of the illegals here ever get deported short of committing some violent crime or ‘major’ drug offense, and even then, they usually just come right back across the border and take up where they left off. It is very possible the CBP agents had much more undisclosed information regarding Mrs Jane Doe’s activities and association with the ‘Uncle’, but there’s absolutely NO excuse for their prolonged sexual violation of her once their initial ‘cavity free’ search came up negative.

Agree completely. The drug dog "hit" very strongly on her which could have meant that even though she wasn't carrying drugs, her clothes had drug residue on them.

(As an aside, I recently had occasion to pick up two registered mail packages at the post office. When the lady returned with them, she warned me they smelled like cannabis! When I assured her they weren't she smiled and said she knew that but they had been stored in the same secure location as drug samples submitted to the accredited forensic lab at our police department and the odor frequently transferred to other mail. I took the packages back to my office and indeed noticed the odor. I quickly opened them up, removed the contents and took the packing material to our outdoor dumpster.)

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Dave:

First, the article reads as if this fine patriot suffered said indignity in New Mexico but her POE was El Paso...Texas. Interesting...

Second, court awards and court agreed settlements are not subject to income tax.

[Marie]

This is the same website that frequently says, “There’s no reason to ever fight the police. Comply with all orders and let the court sort it out. If you don’t, you deserve everything that you get - including being shot.”

According to these people, it’s ok to be sexually assaulted, as long we you get money - but not too much money! - after it’s over.

[beelzepug]

Someone here on FR suggested the money come from the police retirement funds. Nothing like real peer pressure to put a stop to this crap.

[CedarDave]

She lives in NM but the indignity happened at the POE in El Paso.

Didn’t know that the Feds can’t tax court awards and court agreed settlements. That’s good to know, but the attorneys will always get their cut, anyway.