Quote of note:

The 50-year-old was arrested in Miami on Nov. 31, 2003 and charged with failing to disperse. After being frisked and told to empty her pockets, Haney said, she was stunned to learn she was going to be strip searched.

After she removed her clothes, Haney said in a statement, the guard told her ''to turn around, bend all the way over and spread my cheeks.'' Haney was then told to squat and ''hop like a bunny'' -- a method of dislodging contraband -- which was difficult because she has bad knees. The guard then told her to remove her naval piercing and when she couldn't, the guard came back with large clippers and cut it off.

Lawsuit on strip searches settled
Miami-Dade settles a class-action lawsuit in which thousands of women say they were illegally strip-searched by the Corrections Department.
BY NOAKI SCHWARTZ AND TRENTON DANIEL

Thousands of women illegally strip searched at the Women's Detention Center and other Miami-Dade County correctional facilities may qualify for a piece of the $6.25 million a federal court judge approved in a class-action settlement Monday.

It's being called one of the largest civil rights settlements in the history of Miami-Dade County.

Randall C. Berg, executive director of the Florida Justice Institute, which filed the suit against the county in March 2004, said it brought to light how women arrested on misdemeanor charges were routinely stripped and exposed to humiliating searches even if they were pregnant or menstruating.

''It's against the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and against state law in Florida,'' said Berg. ``This is you, your mother, your sister picked up for a misdemeanor.''

TIMEFRAME

Women who were charged with misdemeanors and searched between March 5, 2000 and Feb. 28, 2005 are eligible for the payouts, which will range anywhere between $1,000 and $3,000. Women will be entitled to additional payments if they were younger than 21 or older than 60 at the time of the search, menstruating, pregnant or have a physical or mental disability.

Among those who may be entitled in Miami-Dade County, Berg said, are women brought in for loitering, charges related to prostitution, or driving without a license.

The lawsuit against Miami-Dade County stemmed from a complaint filed by three female protesters who were arrested during the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas Conference.

Among them: Judy Haney of Oakland, Calif. The 50-year-old was arrested in Miami on Nov. 31, 2003 and charged with failing to disperse. After being frisked and told to empty her pockets, Haney said, she was stunned to learn she was going to be strip searched.

After she removed her clothes, Haney said in a statement, the guard told her ''to turn around, bend all the way over and spread my cheeks.'' Haney was then told to squat and ''hop like a bunny'' -- a method of dislodging contraband -- which was difficult because she has bad knees. The guard then told her to remove her naval piercing and when she couldn't, the guard came back with large clippers and cut it off.

''Most police departments around the country no longer do routine strip searches,'' said Howard Simon, executive director with the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. ``Sometimes it takes lawsuits to force slow-moving public officials to change bad policies.''