Just three days after a federal judge held Davis County liable for an illegal jailhouse strip search, two more women have come forward with lawsuits.
Filed on Wednesday in U.S. District Court, the two new suits bring to nine the total number of suits that have been filed against Davis County for alleged civil rights violations at the jail.The two suits were filed by attorney Alyson Draper Snider on behalf of Lois Marie Bass and Kari Stanford. Both women say they were forced to remove their clothing at the jail even though it should have been clear to jailers that they posed no risk and were not carrying contraband.
Bass, 57, was arrested at a supermarket in Sunset on Nov. 23, 1994 on suspicion of shoplifting. Snider said in the suit that the shoplifting charge was later dismissed.
According to the suit, Bass had no criminal history and was "clearly a candidate for own recognizance release."
However, she was forced to strip, during which time at least one male in the jail walked by.
Stanford, 19, was arrested in Farmington on May 11, 1995, for reckless driving.
The suit said she was taken to the jail and forced to remove her clothing even though she "exhibited no indicators that would lead anyone to believe she was a person who could reasonably be suspected of carrying drugs or concealed weapons."
The two women say they suffered humiliation and embarrassment and are seeking $450,000 each in damages.
On Monday, Judge Tena Campbell issued an order holding Davis County liable for the strip search of Kristin Foote. The judge said the county should have known even before the first of the suits was filed that its strip search policy would sooner or later lead to a violation of constitutional rights.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver last year also scolded the county, saying its policy lacked a requirement that jailers must have reasonable cause before subjecting people to strip searches.
So far, a third of the lawsuits have been settled out of court for amounts ranging between $30,000 and $50,000.
Davis County officials said earlier this week that they expect more cases to be resolved soon.