Suit filed on strip searches by DYS

A lawsuit is challenging the legality of a state Department of Youth Services policy that allows routine strip searches of minors in the custody of the agency whenever they leave a secure facility to go to court, see a doctor, or visit with a family member.

"The policy requires a visual body cavity inspection of a juvenile's genitals and anus," the lawsuit states. "And these searches are conducted routinely, without any reason to suspect or probable cause to believe that the juvenile possesses drugs, weapons, or other contraband."

The suit, filed in federal court in Boston on behalf of a 16-year-old identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, alleges that she was routinely strip-searched during her stay at the DYS facility in Brockton's YMCA. Named as defendants are Ronald Preston, secretary of the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services; DYS Commissioner Michael Bolden, and "certain unknown employees of DYS."

Mary Sylva, chief of staff for DYS, referred questions to the attorney general's office, where lawyers declined to comment on the case. In court documents, lawyers representing Preston and Bolden acknowledged that the defendant had been strip-searched in accordance with DYS policy, but denied that she "was subjected to visual body cavity searches."

The 16-year-old, who was later acquitted of charges of assault and battery and mayhem, "suffered extreme emotional distress as a result of the strip searches and visual body cavity searches," the suit alleges. "She was shocked by the incidents. She felt humiliated, degraded, and violated and became reluctant to accept visitors because of the policy of searching her after every visit by family members and friends."

Patrick T. Jones, one of several lawyers working on the case, said they are seeking class-action certification. If a judge grants the request, the case could ultimately involve as many as 1,000 minors, he said. The suit was filed in October, after Suffolk County and Boston reached a $10 million settlement with women who said they had been illegally strip-searched at the Nashua Street Jail.

"The issue is whether a strip search with a visual cavity search is warranted after every parental visit, court visit, defense counsel visit, medical visit, or religious church visit," Jones said.

A DYS document outlining the policy on strip searches, filed by the defendants' lawyers with court documents, states that "the purpose of this policy is to establish appropriate safety and security procedures for the transportation of DYS clients."

"A strip search may be conducted without probable cause and as part of routine procedure only in cases where the youth has been arraigned, committed to the care of DYS, and placed in a secure facility," it reads.

Tony DeMarco, director of the Juvenile Justice Center at Suffolk University Law School, said the searches were meant to prevent children from bringing in drugs or weapons that could be used to harm themselves or others.

"I see that tension that DYS needs to maintain total control over the facility to keep greater security and protect the kids, but I assume that what this case is going to come down to is what is reasonable," DeMarco said. "What level of suspicion is needed to strip-search and when?"

The law requires "probable cause" or "particularized suspicion" for strip searches in prisons and jails, but courts have had varying interpretations of what that should be, legal specialists say.

In some prisons, the severity of an offender's crime is enough to warrant searches after visits, said Howard Friedman, lead attorney for 1,500 women who had been strip-searched at Nashua Street Jail.

His clients were searched shortly after arrest for minor offenses, including failing to return a video game or selling sausages without a license.

A judge ruled in 2001 that the searches were unconstitutional, paving the way for the $10 million settlement from the city of Boston and the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department.

But few court challenges have been brought on behalf of pretrial detainees living in the daily routine of a secure facility, Friedman said.

Adult detainees awaiting trial at Nashua Street Jail and at prisons across the country are still routinely strip-searched when they leave the facility or see visitors, he said.

"This is a test case," Friedman said. "It's not as clear a line as, `Yes, you can do it to these people.' "

But he said he was particularly troubled by a policy that made strip searches of children a routine affair.

"To me, strip-searching juveniles is a pretty outrageous thing to do," Friedman said, adding that routine strip searches are about "something more" than the search for contraband. "They let the inmate know who's in charge, so that the inmate knows the guard can make them do all kinds of disgusting things, and the inmate has to obey."

The DYS policy does not appear to be implemented at all facilities. DeMarco, who advocates for children in DYS, said some of his clients told him they are never strip-searched at Spectrum, the girls' unit in the agency's Boston facility, but that "it always happens at the Brockton Y."

DeMarco said such strip searches, which can take place several times a week, can take an emotional toll on children who often already have issues with their sexuality.

"These kids are not adults," he said. "They go to DYS, and that is their first lock-up, sometimes the first night away from home. They are 13 and 14 years old. How they are greeted and how they are treated makes an extraordinary difference."

Farah Stockman can be reached at fstockman@globe.com.