Facts

In 2005, Kirby Bradshaw and Spencer Lucas were pulled over by City of Oakland Police Officers Ingo Mayer and D'Vour Thurston on a busy street across from a restaurant and convenience store. Plaintiffs were forced to stand naked, with their pants and underwear down, in the street while they were strip searched. The two were naked and in plain sight of children walking to school and where a crowd gathered around the scene during that busy morning. They were forced to stand naked on the sidewalk for five to seven minutes. The two sued the city for civil rights violations concerning the police department's strip-search policies.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs contended that the officers had no probable cause nor reasonable suspicion to stop them, and no legal basis to strip search them in public.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendants denied strip searching these plaintiffs.

Injuries

Plaintiffs were humiliated when they were forced to stand naked while being strip searched in front of a busy street.

Result

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel found that the officers had no probable cause or reasonable suspicion for stopping plaintiffs and that the plaintiffs were unlawfully strip-searched. Judge Patel ordered the city to pay the men more than $205,000. Punitive damages have yet to be determined. The plaintiffs are also entitled to statutory attorney fees and costs under 42 U.S.C. § 1988. The Judge determined that plaintiffs had not committed any traffic violation or any other violation of law. Further, that the officers had not observed any illegal conduct and had no reasonable suspicion for believing that any of the occupants were on parole. Bradshaw and Lucas were only two of several other individuals who filed a complaint against the city and the department over its strip search policies. In 2008, Judge Patel struck down policies related to strip-searches as unconstitutional. More recently, cases of three other men were dismissed, while 39 other remained. On Nov. 3, 2011, the Judge awarded punitive damages in the amount of $25,000 to plaintiff Lucas and $15,000 to plaintiff Bradshaw.

Other Information

On March 20, 2012, the Oakland City Council voted to pay $832,639 to plaintiffs' attorneys John Burris and Michael Haddad.