U.S. District Court: STRIP SEARCH USE OF FORCE.

Drummer v. Luttrell, 75 F.Supp.2d 796 (W.D.Tenn. 1999). An inmate brought a [sections] 1983 action against corrections officials alleging that a disciplinary action violated her due process and Eighth Amendment rights. The district court held that the strip-searching and handcuffing of the inmate during a unit search did not constitute a due process violation because the action did not impose an atypical and significant hardship on her. The court found that the inmate did not have a constitutional right to receive sentence credits nor to parole or early release, upholding the disciplinary decision to deprive the inmate of sentence credits. The inmate had been strip-searched during a shakedown of her dormitory. After squatting and coughing twice the inmate refused a direct order to do so again and was disciplined. She then left a shower area dressed in nothing but her panties and two male officers were called for assistance. The court ordered jail officials to withdraw monthly payments equal to 20% of all depo sits credited to the inmate's account during the previous month to be paid to the clerk of courts, when the amount in the account exceeds $10, until the entire $150 court filing fee is paid. (Shelby County Correctional Center, Tennessee)