Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders of County of Burlington — Breyer, J., Dissenting

Summary

Justice Breyer, joined by Justices Ginsburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan, dissents, arguing that visual strip searches of individuals arrested for minor offenses and placed in a jail’s general population are unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment absent a specific suspicion of contraband, and that the majority’s rule lacks justification. The dissent notes extensive privacy interests, empirical data showing minimal contraband detection, and widespread state prohibitions of suspicionless searches.