ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures applies—if at all—in correctional institutions. Searches of both inmates and their living areas are common—and necessary—in order to prevent escape and to discover contraband such as weapons, drugs, and cell phones. In Hudson v. Palmer, the Supreme Court held that prisoners have no reasonable expectation of privacy in their prison cells. As such, prison officials can perform cell searches without probable cause. The case law on strip searches, body cavity searches, and cross-sex searches is mixed. There are certain situations where these searches are permitted, but in other situations they are prohibited. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the circumstances in which noninmates such as visitors and prison employees may be searched upon entering the facility.
