Opinion ID: 204120
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Were the Procedures Performed at the Medical Center Searches Within the Scope of the Fourth Amendment?

Text: To determine whether the rectal examinations and the exploratory surgery implicated the Fourth Amendment, we must first determine whether they constituted searches for evidence or legitimate medical procedures. [4] As will be discussed further below, it is impossible to reconcile the allegations in the complaint with the district court's conclusion that these procedures were medical decisions made exclusively by physicians. According to the complaint, the procedures were carried out at the insistence of correctional officials for the purpose of finding a cell phone in plaintiff's rectum. The procedures were the direct culmination of a series of searches that began when a metal detector used to scan plaintiff's person gave a positive reading. The complaint describes the surgery as medically unnecessary, and explains circumstances supporting that claim, namely that plaintiff had two normal bowel movements before the searches were conducted, that Dr. Roe III examined him upon arrival at the hospital and found him to be asymptomatic, and that several lab tests ordered by Dr. Roe III were found to be within normal limits. Because the procedures described in the complaint were searches for evidence, they are properly analyzed under the framework of the Fourth Amendment.