Posted on 02/04/2008 7:36:26 AM PST by VRing
CANTON -- Hope Steffey's night began with a call to police for help. It ended with her face down, completely naked and sobbing on a jail cell floor. Steffey says Stark County sheriff's deputies used excessive force and assaulted her during a strip search 15 months ago, according to a federal lawsuit.
(Excerpt) Read more at wkyc.com ...
Hmmmm,
I think their is probably more to your story than meets the eye... What did you really do? You are probably still lying to yourself.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
sarcasm “on”
Get along now, little dogie...they're just like cowboys who protect the cattle so that they can be served for dinner!
Oh, but of course! ;-) The system we have is perfect, nobody has ever been jailed and later found innocent... and on... and on.
Rappers are whack, yo.
Sorry for the mis-spelling. Eye uzed the spel chek. Bip!
I'm sure she wasn't no Helen Thomas or Rosie O'donnell lookalike.
Well, of course. I don't agree with what you posted.
Your response, however, was exactly what I expected you would post as a retort. It is amazing really.
By the way, when this woman is vindicated and wins a huge settlement, and these rogue "law enforcement" goons are fired and charged - I am going to ping you and if you are big person, you can admit you were wrong.
("You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." - C.S. Lewis)
Is this Stark County, Indiana?
It happened 15 months ago. You don’t think the cops had time for a few talking points in/for their defense? It is going to boil down to males helping with the strip search. There is no defense for this.
Cops are up deep kimchi...
Well, most of the cops I've had the misfortune to deal with are just BAD!
Just three weeks ago, I had a county deputy pull me over, call me stupid, and then give me a speeding ticket, not because he actually radar-ed me, but because I passed by him on a four-lane highway as he was completing a U-turn and was accelerating in the left-hand lane, at which point he thought I was going faster than I really was. Again, no radar evidence, just his feeling that I was speeding, and voila, instant ticket.
I'm still waiting for my summons to court so that I can get it tossed out for lack of any evidence other than this guy's "feeling" that I had "blown by him" as he made his U-turn.
Anymore, cops generally don't give a damn about the citizens they're supposed to protect...they just like to go out, look tough, play with their tasers, and throw around their authority.
Teen girls say they were strip-searched, harassed at juvy detention center
Shane Hoover
GateHouse News Service
Tue Aug 28, 2007, 09:19 PM EDT
CANTON, OHIO -
Three girls given a cautionary tour of the local juvenile lockup are suing officials, saying they got more than they bargained for, including a humiliating strip search.
The girls, identified by pseudonyms in the lawsuit, say Multi-County Juvenile Attention Center workers violated their rights by subjecting them to the search, giving them dirty clothes to wear and making comments of a sexual nature.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Stark County Common Pleas Court. Stark, Carroll, Columbiana, Holmes, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties oversee the Multi-County Juvenile Attention System through a Board of Trustees.
The Attention Center houses juveniles awaiting trial or other placements. It is at 815 Faircrest St. SW in Canton Township.
Stark County Sheriff Timothy Swanson confirmed that an investigator is looking into allegations concerning the search, but he said no conclusions have been reached.
Details Outlined
The encounter occurred May 18, according to the lawsuit.
The girls, ages 14, 15 and 16, and their families reported to the Attention Center for an arraignment. About a month before, Massillon police charged the girls with "criminal trespass on a public sidewalk" in connection with a fight involving several youths. Attorneys for the girls contend they were innocent bystanders.
Instead of going before a judge, a court worker told the girls the case would be over if they agreed to each perform 20 hours of community service, regularly attend school and take a 15-minute walk-through, or tour, of the Attention Center, the lawsuit says.
The girls say the walk-through turned out to be more than they expected.
Here's what happened, according to the lawsuit:
It started with a youth leader, or guard, screaming at them. When the girls giggled out of surprise, the man continued to scream and pushed them against a wall, faces first.
The guard then took the girls to the second floor. Once there, he and two other guards, a man and a woman, made disparaging remarks about the girls, commenting on one's breasts.
In front of other inmates, the guards made more comments of a sexual nature, asking one girl "whether she liked boys" and saying "other female inmates will love you because they love blondes."
The female guard then led the girls, separately, into a room where they were told to remove their clothes, squat and cough, open their mouths, lift their breasts and shake their hair.
During the search, the male guards stood in the hallway, laughing, and making comments such as, "I bet they don't think it's funny now," the lawsuit says.
After the searches, the female guard gave the girls filthy underwear, bras and uniforms worn by other inmates. After at least half an hour inside the Attention Center, the guards told the girls they had 30 seconds to change their clothes or they would have to stay overnight, the lawsuit says.
The plaintiffs are seeking more than $25,000 in damages.
Attorneys Brian Zimmerman and Allen Schulman Jr. said the girls' parents never would have agreed to the walk-through if they knew it included a strip search. They say the search was illegal and unnecessary because the girls and their parents had already gone through a metal detector and pat-down search upon entering the Attention Center.
Officials Respond
According to the lawsuit, the girls' parents contacted court personnel after the tour, but Court Administrator Richard DeHeer told them the Attention Center staff acted within its protocol.
Reached Tuesday, DeHeer said he would like to comment on the allegations but couldn't at this time.
Multi-County Superintendent Donald Thernes also declined to comment. Nor would he say what is included in a walk-through at the Attention Center.
Zimmerman and Schulman have based the lawsuit on statements made by the girls and their parents. They don't know who may have observed the alleged events and have yet to identify the Attention Center guards involved.
The attorneys contend the Attention Center is concealing or has destroyed a video of the events captured by surveillance cameras.
"We can't believe any judge would know about this and not stop it," Zimmerman said.
Stark County Family Court Judge David E. Stucki handled arraignments at the Attention Center the day of the tour. He isn't listed as a defendant and said he wouldn't talk about a pending lawsuit.
Speaking generally, the judge said some cases are handled informally, which avoids the creation of a record for the juvenile defendants. The cases involve low-level offenses such as underage consumption, truancy or unruliness, Stucki said.
Each case is different, but informal resolutions can include a curfew, community service, mental-health or substance-abuse treatment or a walk-through of the Attention Center.
The tour is to show youths what will happen if they don't follow the rules.
Stucki said he doesn't know specifically what the walk-through includes.
Zimmerman and Schulman said they want to know if other kids are being subjected to strip searches during tours.
Asked Schulman: "What would you do if this was your child?"
--http://www.wickedlocal.com/ghs-newsservice/ohio_news/x1846588869/index.htm
You’re pathetic...
It matters NOT what she did. The males cops involved in the strip search violates the county’s very own policy.
Remind me to put you and the other cheer leaders of communism into the proper round file...
“Up against the wall and spred ‘em.”
I say 70% would answer yes to your questions...
...that is of course if they told the truth...
"Interestingly enough, Ms. Steffey´s is not the first lawsuit filed in Stark County for illegal strip search. On May 18, 2007, three girls aged 14,15 and 16 arrived at the Multi-County Juvenile Attention Center for an arraignment following charges of "criminal trespass on a public sidewalk".
Instead of going before a judge the girls were informed by a court worker that the case would be over if they agreed to 20 hours of community service, to attend school regularly and take a 15 minute tour of the Attention Center.
Unbeknownst to the girl´s parents, who waited downstairs for the tour to be over, the girls were taken upstairs and strip-searched while guards made disparaging remarks. There was no reason for the strip search as the girls were not under arrest or about to be confined and they had been through a metal detector and searched upon entering the building.
Sheriff Swanson confirms that an investigation is underway, but states no conclusions have been reached.Canton Rep"
Start County Strip Searches: American Chronicle - February 4, 2008
This is OUTRAGEOUS! Three little girls! I hope they sue Stark County for everything they can, and fire all the deputies that were involved!
I must reiterate another poster's comment up the thread...
These events are quickly becoming the "rule" instead of the "exceptions".
Quite profound and it will stay with me...
Seen this one?
Never underestimate the stupidity or arrogance of cops.
Because they can and we allow and encourage them to do so.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.