Juvenile Law Center's Findings on Strip Searches for Youth in Detention Cited in International Report

Juvenile Law Center goes international! 

In a response to the Department of Health and Human Services about a project on personal searches of young people in custody, Elizabeth Daly, the Acting Commissioner for Children in Tasmania, Australia, cited an article written by Juvenile Law Center Supervising Attorney Jessica Feierman and Staff Attorney Riya Shah on strip-searching youth in detention.

Ms. Daly referred to our findings that strip searches can seriously traumatize kids, quoting this excerpt from the article:

"Adolescents who have experienced trauma need, first and foremost, to be provided with physical and emotional safety ... Because strip searches can trigger flashbacks and exacerbate a traumatized child's stress and mental-health problems, the use of strip searches undermines, rather than helps, the child's well-being."

Check out Jessica and Riya's 2007 article, "Protecting Personhood: Legal Strategies to Combat the Use of Strip Searches on Youth in Detention," (published in Rutgers Law Review) here.