Tinetti v. Wittke, 79-2442
| Decision Date | 24 April 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 79-2442,79-2442 |
| Citation | 620 F.2d 160 |
| Parties | Jill TINETTI, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lee WITTKE, Sheriff Racine County, Jane Doe, a Racine County Matron whose name is unknown, and County of Racine, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Seventh Circuit |
Richard H. Kjeldgaard, Racine, Wis., for defendants-appellants.
Terry W. Rose, Kenosha, Wis., for plaintiff-appellee.
Before CASTLE, Senior Circuit Judge, SWYGERT and SPRECHER, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff-appellee Jill Tinetti brought this suit challenging the constitutionality of the defendants-appellants' practice of strip-searching persons arrested for non-misdemeanor traffic offenses. The searches were conducted upon all such offenders who were detained overnight in the Racine County jail due to an unwillingness or inability to post bond before their initial appearance in court. 1 The searches were conducted despite the absence of any probable cause to believe that the detainees were concealing contraband or weapons on their bodies. The district court ruled that the appellants' practices violated the Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, and granted Tinetti both declaratory and injunctive relief. We affirm the judgment of the district court, which is published at 479 F.Supp. 486 (E.D.Wis.1979), and adopt the district court's Memorandum and Order as the decision of this court.
1 Although the searches were discontinued in response to this lawsuit, the district court ruled that the situation was "capable of repetition yet evading review". 479 F.Supp. 486, 489 (E.D.Wis.1979). This ruling was not challenged on appeal.
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Mary Beth G. v. City of Chicago
...point is the balancing test announced in Wolfish, beginning with the magnitude of the invasion of personal rights. In Tinetti v. Wittke, 620 F.2d 160 (7th Cir.1980), we adopted the opinion of Judge Warren, 479 F.Supp. 486 (E.D.Wis.1979), who quoted language from an oral decision, Sala v. Co......
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Bovey v. City of Lafayette, Ind.
...and result regarding a policy of blanket strip searches as found in Tinette v. Wittke, 479 F.Supp. 486 (E.D.Wisc.1979), aff'd, 620 F.2d 160 (7th Cir.1980), is also relevant. In predicating the liability of the City on Monell custom, usage, policy, and practice this court is not limited to t......
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State v. Wilks
...the personal privacy of individuals arrested for civil violations. In Tinetti v. Wittke, 479 F.Supp. 486 (E.D. Wis. 1979), aff'd., 620 F.2d 160 (7th Cir.1980), the district court held that persons arrested for misdemeanor traffic violations could not be subjected to strip searches unless th......
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Davidson v. O'Lone
...See, e.g., Brule v. Southworth, 611 F.2d 406 (1st Cir.1979) (discharge for exercise of First Amendment rights); Tinetti v. Wittke, 620 F.2d 160 (7th Cir.1980) (strip search for traffic violation infringed Fourth Amendment).8 Judges Weis and Garth do not believe that this case presents the i......