Grottano v. City of New York: strip-searched for visiting a jail
They were not arrested and not charged. They had come to visit a family member in a New York City jail. Between 2012 and 2019, visitors were subjected to invasive strip searches, and in October 2019 the City settled their class action for $12.5 million.
A public record, not a client of this firm. Everything on this page comes from the court file, the government announcement or the reporting cited at the end. Usher Law Group did not represent anyone in this matter, we publish no results of our own, and nothing here predicts the outcome of any other case.
The people in Grottano v. City of New York had done nothing but show up. They came to Rikers and the other City jails to visit a son, a husband, a sister. Between 2012 and 2019, according to the class action they brought, visitors were subjected to invasive strip searches as a condition of the visit.
The City settled in October 2019 for $12.5 million, a class settlement shared among the visitors who were searched during those years. No court decided whether the searches were unconstitutional; a settlement ends the question rather than answering it. What the settlement establishes is that the City paid, and paid on a claim brought by people who were never in custody at all.
The case matters because of who the plaintiffs were. Most Fourth Amendment cases about jails are about the people held in them. This one was about the people who love them, and the law that protects a visitor is, if anything, stronger.
What the law calls it
A strip search is a search, and its reasonableness is a balancing test (Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520 (1979)). The Supreme Court allowed jails to strip-search arrestees entering the general population without individualized suspicion (Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders, 566 U.S. 318 (2012)), but that rule is about arrestees being housed with other detainees. The Second Circuit has held for decades that a person arrested for a misdemeanor or minor offense may not be strip-searched without individualized reasonable suspicion of weapons or contraband (Weber v. Dell, 804 F.2d 796 (2d Cir. 1986); Shain v. Ellison, 273 F.3d 56 (2d Cir. 2001); Hartline v. Gallo, 546 F.3d 95 (2d Cir. 2008)). A visitor is neither an arrestee nor a detainee.
Because the searches followed a practice rather than one officer's decision, the City itself was the defendant under Monell, and the claim was the same for everyone it happened to, which is why it was brought as a class.
What it cost
Grottano v. City of New York
Invasive strip searches of people visiting New York City jails, 2012 to 2019.
Source: Prison Legal News. A public record of someone else's case, not a result of this firm and not a prediction.
What it means for you
If you were strip-searched at a jail, a precinct or a courthouse, the first question is what you were there for. An arrest on a minor charge, a visit, a court date: none of them permits a strip search in the Second Circuit without individualized suspicion. Our strip search page explains the rule, the open question after Florence, and what to write down.
The deadlines are the ordinary New York ones: a notice of claim within 90 days for the state-law claims against the City, three years for the federal claim. If it happened to you and to others the same way, say so; a practice is what makes the City, not only the officer, the defendant. The deadline tool counts from your date.
The pages this story points to
Strip search
Weber, Shain, Florence, and where the line is drawn.
Read →Suing the city: Monell
When a practice, not one officer, is the defendant.
Read →Rikers: what families should know
Visiting, writing, and the records to keep.
Read →Sources. Prison Legal News, "$12.5 million to settle class action suit over strip searches of NYC jail visitors" (August 1, 2020); Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders, 566 U.S. 318 (2012); Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520 (1979); Weber v. Dell, 804 F.2d 796 (2d Cir. 1986); Shain v. Ellison, 273 F.3d 56 (2d Cir. 2001).
Common questions
Can a jail strip-search a visitor?
A visitor is not an arrestee and not a detainee. The rule for people entering a jail's general population (Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders, 566 U.S. 318 (2012)) does not describe a visitor, and the Second Circuit has long required individualized reasonable suspicion before a minor-offense arrestee may be strip-searched (Weber v. Dell; Shain v. Ellison). A person who came to visit stands on stronger ground than either.
What is a class action?
One lawsuit brought on behalf of everyone who was treated the same way. The Grottano settlement covered the visitors searched over the seven-year period; each eligible person shared in the fund according to the settlement's terms.
Tell us what happened.
One conversation with an attorney, in your language. We tell you which claims the facts support, which deadline runs first for the agency involved, what evidence to preserve this week, and whether a pending criminal case changes the timing. If it is not a case we can take, we say so and tell you where to go.
(718) 484-7510If a criminal charge is still open, talk to your defense lawyer before you describe the arrest to anyone, including us. English, Russian and Spanish in-house; an interpreter for any other language. Contingency fee, confirmed in writing before we begin.