No limit on damages for class action lawsuit against Beaufort County Jail searches
Lawyers sent out notices to 5,000 to 6,000 women in Beaufort County earlier this month alerting them that they could be part of a class-action lawsuit against the county.
The 2020 lawsuit alleges women detained at the Beaufort County Detention Center were “routinely subjected to humiliating strip and body cavity searches” in front of male guards while similar searches were not performed on men.
Plaintiffs claim that Beaufort County violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. While there are limits on how much money a person can get from the state, there are no limits when it applies to federal law claims related to the Constitution. That means Beaufort County could potentially have to pay millions to the plaintiffs. Beaufort County would also be required to pay attorney’s fees.
When asked to explain the county’s liability insurance and how they would potentially pay out any damages, Clerk to Council Sarah Brock declined to comment, stating the county doesn’t comment on matters related to pending litigation.
Earlier this year in a motion for summary judgment, Beaufort County asked the court to throw out the equal federal protection violation claim, arguing that because the actions happened in prison they shouldn’t be held to the same standard. A summary judgment is when the court makes a decision made based on statements and evidence without going to trial. A district judge denied the motion in March, writing that “Beaufort County’s gender-based practice fails -- even under a more deferential standard.”
“It’s hard to understand how the county could treat women like this, especially this day and age, and then argue to the court that it’s okay,” said Robert Metro, who is representing the plaintiffs, “It’s not okay.”
Notified women will have until September 11 to opt out of the lawsuit, otherwise, those that opt-in will be represented by the plaintiffs attorney. Currently, the legal filing identifies Cheryl Munday and Margaret Devine as plantiffs. All of the women included in the class action stand to receive a payout if the court rules in favor of the plaintiffs. Since the lawsuit was certified as a class-action July 2022, the plaintiffs represent all female detainees at BCDC who were strip searched between February 27, 2015 until May 5, 2020.
No names other than the two plaintiffs, who have already been identified in the lawsuit, will be made public.
Munday and Devine declined to comment. Metro, their lawyer, declined to answer questions but made comments to The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
“Imagine if your wife, daughter or mother, or someone you care about, was forced to remove their clothing in front of a total stranger after being charged with a traffic related offense while men were provided a special waiting room and not strip searched,” he said. “That’s outrageous.”
For women who have been notified, or haven’t been notified and believe they should be part of the lawsuit, to get more information they can go to https://beaufortcountystripsearch.com/
What happens now?
The plaintiffs filled a motion for summary judgment June 13 asking the court to rule that Beaufort County violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment without a jury trial. It’s possible that the court could grant that motion and say there is no need for a trial. Then, a jury would decide how much Beaufort County would have to give the plaintiffs for damages. The court hasn’t responded to the motion yet.
Beaufort County and the plaintiffs also still have the opportunity to settle.
If the court doesn’t grant the motion and the parties don’t settle, then a trial will take place in U.S. Federal Court, likely in Charleston, pulling jurors from throughout the state.
