Johnson v. GOVERNMENT OF DIST. OF COLUMBIA, 780 F. Supp. 2d 62

Plaintiffs, female arrestees in the DC Superior Court cellblock during 1999–2003, claim blanket drop, squat and cough searches violated Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
Marshal Todd Dillard, in his personal capacity, allegedly directed or failed to prevent a gender-based search policy applying to women but not men.
USMS Policy Directive 99-25, effective 1999–2003, was gender neutral and allowed searches based on reasonable suspicion or other factors, not blanket gender-based searches.
The United States admitted in Clifton v. U.S. and Helton v. U.S. that female arrestees faced blanket searches while male arrestees did not, though Dillard contested these admissions.
In 2010 the court denied immunity-based defenses on related claims, but subsequently concluded, consistent with the DC Circuit’s Bame decision, that Dillard is entitled to qualified immunity for Fourth Amendment claims and the Fifth Amendment claim fails absent discriminatory intent.
The court granted summary judgment for Dillard on Fourth and Fifth Amendment claims and dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims against him without prejudice on the remaining issues.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Dillard is entitled to qualified immunity on Fourth Amendment claims	Plaintiffs contend blanket searches violated the Fourth Amendment.	Dillard argues policy was neutral and that post-2002 decisions show no clearly established right.	Dillard entitled to qualified immunity; Fourth Amendment claims fail.
Whether Plaintiffs adequately state a Fifth Amendment equal protection claim against Dillard	Plaintiffs allege gender-based blanket searches violated equal protection.	Disparities existed but no evidence of purposeful discrimination by Dillard.	Summary judgment for Dillard on Fifth Amendment claims; no personal discriminatory intent proven.

Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520 (1979) (body-cavity searches and detention settings нуждаются в балансировании против приватности)
Bame v. Dillard, 637 F.3d 380 (D.C. Cir. 2011) (court held qualified immunity where law not clearly established in 2002)
Powell v. Barrett, 541 F.3d 1298 (11th Cir. 2008) (en banc; blanket strip searches not necessarily prohibited by Fourth Amendment)
Bull v. City and County of San Francisco, 595 F.3d 964 (9th Cir. 2010) (en banc; blanket strip searches may be facially reasonable under Bell)
Florence v. Bd. of Chosen Freeholders, 621 F.3d 296 (3d Cir. 2010) (upholds certain strip search practices under a Bell framework)