NORFOLK, Va. — A judge has ruled that prison officials in Virginia broke the law when they “willingly and knowingly” withheld information about strip searches.
The Virginian-Pilot reported Wednesday that a Norfolk Circuit judge ruled in the newspaper’s favor in a lawsuit filed over strip search records.
Pilot reporter Gary Harki requested records that included the names of prisoner visitors who’d been strip searched as well as those who were banned for refusing to be strip searched.
Prison officials had been strip searching visitors who were anywhere form the age of 1 to 83.
Officials also had threatened to permanently ban them from visiting prisoners if they refused to be searched. The articles led to new state laws.
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