SAN FRANCISCO — A plaintiff lawyer who’s won settlements around California over jail strip searches is finding the city of San Francisco to be a much tougher target.
On Tuesday, a fragmented Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals turned down a facial challenge to San Francisco Sheriff Michael Hennessey’s blanket strip-search policy for individuals about to be housed in the city jail. And while Sacramento civil rights lawyer Mark Merin emphasizes that the suit is not dead, lawyers in San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera’s office were jubilant.
