Politics & Government
Sheriff Berry Speaks up for Strip Searches
Berry, Oconee County's sheriff and president of the Georgia Sheriffs' Association, responded to a recent Supreme Court ruling.
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding strip searches for jail inmates arrested on even minor offenses has the support of Scott Berry.
"The staff has to have a tool to be able to search for contraband, and the best tool we have is a strip search," Berry, who's president of the Georgia Sheriffs' Association, said on 11 Alive news Atlanta.
The 5-4 ruling Monday upheld the treatment of a New Jersey man who had been arrested on a warrant for an unpaid fine and was strip searched in two county jails. It turned out he had paid the fine.
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Berry told the TV station the Supreme Court had simply affirmed a practice that's been available to Georgia law enforcement officers for years.
Find out what's happening in Oconeewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
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