- Bell v. Wolfish
Infobox SCOTUS case
Litigants=Bell v. Wolfish
ArgueDate=January 16
ArgueYear=1979
DecideDate=May 14
DecideYear=1979
FullName=Griffin Bell, Attorney General, et al. v. Wolfish, et al.
USVol=441
USPage=520
Citation=99 S. Ct. 1861; 60 L. Ed. 2d 447; 1979 U.S. LEXIS 100
Prior=Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Subsequent=
Holding=The Fourth Amendment does not prohibit strip searches and similar intrusive conduct against persons being held in federal prison while awaiting trial.
SCOTUS=1975-1981
Majority=Rehnquist
JoinMajority=Burger, Stewart, White, Blackmun
Concurrence/Dissent=Powell
Dissent=Marshall
Dissent2=Stevens
JoinDissent2=Brennan
LawsApplied=U.S. Const., amend. IV"Bell v. Wolfish", 441 U.S. 520 (
1979 )ref|citation, is a case in which the United States Supreme Court found that it was not a violation of the Fourth Amendment to performbody cavity searches , strip searches, and the like on persons being held inprison pending a criminal trial, in order to reduce contraband and weapons in the prisons.ignificance
This case arose as a challenge to the conditions under which pretrial defendants are confined. The petitioners claimed that in the absence of a
conviction , subjecting incarcerated defendants automatically to the same conditions asconvicted felon s wasunconstitutional punishment . The federal district court agreed with this view, holding that defendants could only be deprived of liberty as a matter of "compelling necessity". [cite web
author=
year=
url=http://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cphl/articles/hastings/hastings-2_-3.htm
title=Bell v. Wolfish
publisher=Medical and Public Health Law Site
accessdate=2008-01-25]ee also
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 441 Footnotes
References
*citationussc|441|520|Text of the opinion on Findlaw.com
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