The wife of a California inmate will earn $5.6 million after being sexually molested during a strip search while attempting to visit her husband in jail, her attorneys announced Monday.
On September 6, 2019, Christina Cardenas was subjected to a strip search by prison officials, drug and pregnancy tests, X-ray and CT scans at a hospital, and another strip search by a male doctor who sexually violated her, according to a lawsuit.
“My motivation in pursuing this lawsuit was to ensure that others do not have to endure the same egregious offenses that I experienced,” Cardenas told the jury.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will pay $3.6 million of the $5.6 million settlement, with the remaining funds coming from the other defendants, which include two correctional officials, a doctor, and the Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley hospital.
Prison personnel conducted their searches by a warrant, which said that a strip search may only be conducted if an X-ray revealed any foreign objects that could be contraband in Cardenas’ body, her attorneys said. However, neither the X-ray nor the CT scan revealed any sign of such.
She was also handcuffed and brought on a “humiliating perp walk” to and from the hospital, and she was denied water and access to a bathroom for the length of the search. She was told she had to pay for the hospital’s services and then received invoices totaling more than $5,000. Cardenas was denied a visit with her spouse although no contraband was detected in any of her things or on her body.
One of the jail officials asked her, “Why are you visiting, Christina? You are under no obligation to visit. It’s a choice, and this is part of the experience, according to Cardenas.
“We believe the unknown officer’s statement was a form of intimidation used to dismiss Christina’s right to visit her lawful husband during his incarceration,” Gloria Allred, who represents Cardenas, stated.
Cardenas was previously subjected to a strip search at a prior visit to marry her spouse, and she continued to face issues throughout her visits with him, though not to the same extent as the Sept. 6, 2019 incident. Her husband is still in detention today.
The settlement also compels the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to publish a policy memorandum to workers that better safeguards the rights of visitors who must go through a strip search. This involves ensuring that the search warrant is read and understood by the visitor, that the visitor is given a copy of the warrant, that everyone involved reads and understands the extent of the warrant, and that the scope of the warrant is not exceeded.
Cardenas is not alone in her experiences with correctional authorities, Allred stated, and she hopes that this action will help defend the rights of spouses and family members who visit their loved ones in jail.
California prisons have long struggled with sexual abuse and misbehavior, with the US Justice Department opening an inquiry into allegations that correctional officials sexually abused jailed women at two state-run California prisons.
The federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed earlier this year that a women’s jail in Northern California known as the “rape club” will be closed after an Associated Press investigation revealed widespread sexual abuse by correctional officials.