Roadhouse v. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

290 F.R.D. 535, 2013 WL 1181586, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37870
CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedMarch 19, 2013
DocketNo. 2:09-CV-33 JCM (VCF)
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 290 F.R.D. 535 (Roadhouse v. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roadhouse v. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, 290 F.R.D. 535, 2013 WL 1181586, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37870 (D. Nev. 2013).

Opinion

ORDER

JAMES C. MAHAN, District Judge.

Presently before the court is defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment on the pleadings. (Doc. #210). Plaintiff filed a response in opposition (# 213), and defendant filed a reply (doc. # 214).

Aso before the court is plaintiffs motion for an order striking the following two documents by defendant: (1) defendant’s prior response to the motion for class certification (doc. # 171); and (2) defendant’s answer to the amended complaint (doc. # 190).1 (Doc. # 215). Defendant filed a response in opposition (doc. # 219), and plaintiff has not filed a reply.

Aso before the court is plaintiffs motion for class certification. (Doc. # 216).2 Defendant filed a response in opposition (doc. #225)3, and plaintiff filed a reply (doc. # 232).

I. Background

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department operates the Clark County Detention Center (“CCDC”). LVMPD transports all of its arrestees to CCDC to undergo an initial booking process. Some arrestees are released on their own recognizance or make bail. The arrestees released on their own recognizance from CCDC and the arrestees that make bail do not undergo a strip search.

Every arrestee that is not released on their own recognizance or fails to make bail [540]*540within twenty-four hours is moved to a holding module. Prior to movement to a holding module, an LVMPD officer at CCDC strip searches every single arrestee. Following the strip search, the inmates are required to wear CCDC inmate clothing.

Plaintiff was arrested on misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and admitted to the CCDC. (Doc. # 126, amended compl. at ¶ 40). Plaintiff was strip searched after his admission to the CCDC. (Id. at ¶41). The strip search entailed a full visual body-cavity examination. (Id. at ¶ 41). Plaintiff alleges that “other detainees were able to view [him] while he was in a state of complete undress and while he submitted to the strip search.” (Id. at ¶ 41).

Plaintiffs complaint alleges violations of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 18 of the Nevada Constitution. (See id.). Plaintiff alleges that his federal and state constitutional rights were violated because (1) he was strip searched without particularized, reasonable suspicion and (2) he was strip searched in a group in the view of other inmates.

Based on the foregoing set of facts, plaintiff is attempting to certify two separate classes. The two classes are:

(1) All detainees of the Clark County Detention Center who, from January 6, 2007, through the present, were strip searched in groups of two or more pursuant to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s blanket policy/practice/custom (the “group search class”); and
(2) All pre-arraignment detainees of the Clark County Detention Center, who from January 6, 2007, through the present, were strip searched upon admission to the general population of the facility without reasonable suspicion that they were concealing drugs, weapons, or other contraband pursuant to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Department’s blanket policy/practice/custom (the “suspicionless strip search class”).

(Doc. #216). Plaintiff argues that putative class members of either or both classes had their Article I, Section 18 rights violated under the Nevada Constitution.4 Plaintiff argues that members of the group search class also had their federal Fourth Amendment rights violated.5

Defendant submits that at all relevant times it had a policy to strip search every inmate at CCDC prior to the inmates’ movement to the general jail population, provided that inmate was not released on his own recognizance and did not make bail within twenty four hours. (See doc. # 225). LVMPD conducted the strip searches without any particularized, reasonable suspicion for any given inmate. (See id.).

For the group strip searches, plaintiff alleges that defendant had a written policy and/or de facto policy of conducting group strip searches. (See id.). Defendant responds that, on days of inproeessing large numbers of inmates, it did conduct group strip searches. (See id.) However, in the strip search rooms there are five shower areas that are separated by partitions. (Id. at p. 6). The officers, per written policy, would instruct the inmates to go behind the partitions out of view of each other while the strip search was being conducted. (Id. at p. 6).

[541]*541The major outstanding issue in this case is whether class certification is warranted so that a class, or classes, of inmates may collectively pursue any claims they may have against the LVMPD.

II. Discussion

The court stayed the action pending a ruling from the United States Supreme Court (Doe. # 201), and denied the pending motion for class certification as moot. (Doc. # 202). Subsequently, the Supreme Court issued an opinion in Florence v. Bd. of Chosen Freeholders of the Cnty. of Burlington, __U.S. __, 132 S.Ct. 1510, 182 L.Ed.2d 566 (2012), which had a direct impact on the suspicion-less strip search class. The case is no longer stayed.

Plaintiff has re-filed his motion for class certification and the motion is now ripe for this court’s review. Each side has their own motion, independent of the class certification motion, that is now ripe for this court’s review.

The court will address each of the three motions individually.

A. Judgment on the Pleadings

In a previous order on a motion to dismiss, this court held that the suspicionless strip search class had no claim under the Fourth Amendment pursuant to Bull v. City and Cnty. of San Francisco, 595 F.3d 964 (9th Cir.2010) (en banc). (Doc. # 147). This court then granted a stay of the action until the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion on the same issue. Both parties agree that the suspicionless strip search class has no claim under the Fourth Amendment. See Florence, 132 S.Ct. 1510 (2012); Bull, 595 F.3d 964, 978-79. If plaintiffs rights, or the putative class members’ rights, were violated because of a suspicionless search, then those rights must be secured by Article I, Section 18 of the Nevada Constitution.

On this motion for judgment on the pleadings, defendant argues that in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Florence, “there no longer remains any doubt that the Nevada Supreme Court will not depart from this nationally settled law and interpret the Nevada State Constitution to preclude strip searching pretrial detainees without reasonable suspicion.” (Doc. #210; 7:5-8). Defendant also argues that “[tjhere is no reported case from the Nevada Supreme Court, or any other court for that matter, recognizing the existence of a private cause of action for a person deprived of rights secured by the Nevada Constitution.” (Id. at 9:15-17).

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290 F.R.D. 535, 2013 WL 1181586, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37870, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roadhouse-v-las-vegas-metropolitan-police-department-nvd-2013.