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From: jeff@rtech.ARPA (Jeff Lichtman)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: San Quentin strip searches -- a new twist
Message-ID: <152@rtech.ARPA>
Date: Sat, 16-Feb-85 05:15:34 EST
Article-I.D.: rtech.152
Posted: Sat Feb 16 05:15:34 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 17-Feb-85 12:33:56 EST
References: <802@druxo.UUCP>
Organization: Relational Technology, Berkeley CA
Lines: 51

<bug food>

> First, I think that felons *should* lose many of their rights, including
> the right of privacy, when it interferes with security.
> 
> I also think that one's gender should not be a consideration for task
> assignment among prison guards.
> 

Prisoners should and do lose some of their rights.  This can be carried too
far, however.  The right to the privacy of one's body is one of the most
fundamental, and to lose it causes terrible humiliation and feelings of
degradation.  This is the main reason that rape is such a terrible crime.
While forcing a woman to stand naked and powerless before a group of men
(who, given the situation, will probably be hooting and ogling) isn't
the same as rape, I feel that it is close enough that it should never be
allowed to happen.  What's wrong with assigning female guards to perform
strip searches on female prisoners?  If there aren't enough women guards
to do this, then the state should hire them.

> However, it seems worth noting that female prisoners searched by male
> guards are likely to experience a greater sense of being threatened than
> when the roles are reversed.  Equal treatment does not mean equal
> humiliation or fear.  So yes, I do feel differently about the story
> depending on the genders assigned to the prisoners and guards.
		.
> Nancy Parsons
> AT&T ISL

I agree.  When was the last time you heard of a man being raped by a woman?
I don't think most men would be as bothered as women by being strip searched
in front of the opposite sex because rape of men by women is so rare.  It
would still be humiliating, but not as frightening.

I feel that strip searches are intrinsically humiliating, and so should be
avoided.  If it should happen that a strip search is really needed for
security reasons, it should be done delicately, with the minimum of
humiliation.  (Delicacy in prison???  What is this world coming to?)
Maybe there should be laws regulating how and when strip searches are done.

The purpose of prison is to punish criminals by restricting their freedom,
to prevent those criminals from committing crimes for a period of time,
and to rehabilitate them (well, this usually doesn't happen, but that's
another problem).  Humiliation of prisoners doesn't accomplish any of these
goals.

I worry that male guards will strip search female prisoners "just for fun".
Does anyone know whether there are laws or regulations against this?
-- 
Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.)
aka Swazoo Koolak