Today, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), along with co-counsel Shania King, filed an en banc brief in Gilmore v. Milton, a case where correctional officers were granted qualified immunity following an invasive strip-search of Clarissa Gilmore during her visit to a Georgia state prison.
In August, an Eleventh Circuit panel found that although nine circuit courts ruled the strip-searching of a person without reasonable suspicion was unlawful, two previous Eleventh Circuit decisions—Thomas v. Roberts and Marsh v. Butler County— required it to ignore the unanimous consensus of the nine circuits and affirm the grant of qualified immunity. But the entire Eleventh Circuit then voted to vacate the panel decision and hear the case en banc.
LDF’s brief argues that Thomas and Marsh should be overruled because their rule regarding decisions from other courts of appeals is inconsistent with both Supreme Court precedent and with the rule in every other circuit. The brief further argues that the Defendants should not be protected by qualified immunity because every reasonable prison official should have known that they could not strip-search a prison visitor without reasonable suspicion to believe that the visitor possessed contraband.
“It is unequivocal that Clarissa Gilmore’s constitutional rights were egregiously violated through an invasive and lawless strip-search. No officer should be immunized for conduct that is obviously unlawful,” said Chris Kemmitt, LDF Deputy Director of Litigation “This is a critical opportunity for our legal system to regulate the harm qualified immunity poses. We urge the court to reverse the grant of qualified immunity and rule in the interests of accountability.”
“Clarissa Gilmore endured horrific, humiliating treatment that was clearly unlawful. The grant of qualified immunity to correctional officials involved in strip-searching Ms. Gilmore must be swiftly overturned,” said attorney Shania King. “We must also address the system that allows officers who violate the law to escape accountability. We are hopeful that the court will provide justice to Ms. Gilmore and all those that are impacted by governmental misconduct by overruling the cases that enable misconduct.”
Read the brief here.
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
