Federal appellate court overrules Ohio delousing lawsuit

CLEVELAND (AP) — An appeals court has ruled that a federal judge in Ohio should not have dismissed a complaint filed against the city of Cleveland by two people who said they were strip searched and sprayed with a delousing solution at the city jail.

The 6th U.S. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a ruling today that said a federal lawsuit against the city can proceed because the plaintiffs’ rights against unreasonable searches may have been violated.

The plaintiffs — a man and a woman — were separately sent to the jail after being arrested for suspended driver’s licenses because of unpaid traffic tickets.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2011 that jails have the right to strip search and delouse inmates, but today’s 6th Circuit ruling said Cleveland’s practices appeared unreasonable.