Lee v. Downs

• Jurisdiction: United States

Lee v. Downs

641 F. 2d 1117 (1981)

Facts

Debra Lee, a Virginia state prisoner housed at the Women's Correctional Center in Goochland, was transferred to a kitchen job, prompting a group of prisoners to demand that she steal sugar from the kitchen so they could make whiskey. When the inmates threatened to set Lee's cell on fire if she did not steal the sugar, Lee requested a cell transfer several times. Frustrated at the guard's refusal to transfer her, Lee threatened one of the guards and immediately was placed in a maximum security section as a result of the threat. Within a half hour after the transfer, Lee was seen in her new cell with an electrical cord wrapped around her neck, clad in only a bra and underpants. Guards of both genders were summoned. The guards removed her to a medical unit because she was seen as a suicide threat, where two male guards forcibly held her while a female nurse removed her undergarments so she could not make a noose out of them. Lee was given a paper dress to cover herself. She contended that at this time her menstrual cycle started, and she asked the nurse for sanitary napkins, but her requests were denied. A few days later she set the paper dress on fire and was seen dancing naked among the flames and clapping her hands before being restrained by two male guards, who asked her if she had more matches. She replied, "In some place where they would never be found." A female nurse wearing a surgical glove searched her vagina for matches while male guards restrained her arms and legs. Lee filed a Section 1983 claim seeking injunction and damages against correctional officials for (1) failure to provide her with protection against the threat of fire in her first cell; (2) invasion of privacy when the two male guards forcibly removed her undergarments; (3) deprivation of essential medical care; and (4) invasion of privacy because her vagina was searched in front of two male guards. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia entered judgment for Lee on the invasion of privacy count. Each side appealed.

Issue

Did the forceful removal of Lee's undergarments and involuntarily exposing her genitals to two male guards constitute a violation of her right to privacy?

Holding by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the District Court, holding that it was wholly unnecessary for the male guards to remain in the room and restrain the plaintiff while her...