Opinion ID: 1208626
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Clothing Exchange According To Plaintiffs

Text: Plaintiff Kelsey arrived at the Schoharie County Jail on October 16, 2002, having been transported there from the Albany County Jail, where he worked as a corrections officer. He had been arrested for a civil violation of the Family Court Act in connection with a child support matter. He underwent the booking procedure, including photographing and fingerprinting, before the required clothing exchange. He testified at his deposition that a corrections officer laid out the jail uniform on a bench in front of the half-wall. He proceeded to take off his street clothes in the open booking area, as directed, in order to put on the jail uniform. Kelsey asked the officer if he had to remove his underwear, and the officer replied: Yes. Everything. The officer stood directly in front of Kelsey during the clothing exchange, and Kelsey placed his street clothes into a clear garbage bag at the request of the officer. In his deposition, Kelsey stated that he asked the officer during the clothing exchange: Do I have to do this here? and that the officer answered: Yes, you do. Kelsey testified that the officer's eyes were looking up and down my body, so I assume he saw my genitals. Kelsey found the entire process embarrassing and [h]umiliating. Kelsey testified that during the clothing exchange he was not prevented from turning around, from going behind the half-wall or from using the towel or the bag to obscure the officer's view of his body. He also stated that he was not required to lift his arms, to open his mouth, to expose his buttocks or to manipulate any part of his body. He did not indicate that he was touched by the officer in any way. The Cobleskill Police Department brought plaintiff Wright to the Schoharie County Jail at about 3:30 a.m. on September 5, 2003, after Wright's arrest for driving while intoxicated. In his deposition, Wright testified that, following his interview at the jail, he was placed in a holding cell with the cell door open. An officer then brought him a jail uniform, a white towel, and a mesh bag for his street clothes. Wright sat on a bench in the cell and removed his street clothing, which he placed in the bag. He then proceeded to take a shower as directed, taking the towel with him. He returned to the holding cell with the towel, got dressed in the jail uniform and was escorted to a housing unit. According to Wright, a corrections officer stood in front of him as he removed his street clothes (a process that took one minute) and placed them in the mesh bag provided. When asked in what direction he was facing as he undressed, Wright testified: At somewhat of an angle to [the officer], but I can't recall 100 percent which way I was facing. It was like sort of facing towards the officer. Wright also testified that when he dressed in the holding cell after the shower, no one was present in the holding area. In response to a question relating to the mental and emotional stress allegedly suffered, Wright described his experience as rather unpleasant and stated: [I]t was, you know, just a rather humiliating kind ofshameful kind of, just being naked in front of at least one other individual and possibly in the view of others. Plaintiff Wright's description of the deviations from the clothing exchange protocol is consistent with the deposition testimony of Joseph Kenyon, a corrections officer employed at the Schoharie County Jail. According to Officer Kenyon, inmates are required to stand in front of him and face him during the entire clothing exchange. He watches the inmates as they remove their clothing, the disrobing takes place in the holding cell where the inmate is at, and there is no option to disrobe in private.