A federal judge in Louisiana ruled on Friday that the practice of strip-searching individuals who have not been arrested by Baton Rouge police (BRPD) is “unconstitutional on its face” and that the higher standard of probable cause is needed for a strip search according to Supreme Court precedent.

The court scrutinized the BRPD’s strip search policy that allowed officers to conduct strip searches based on reasonable suspicion, a threshold significantly lower than probable cause. The judge pointed out that the policy’s language, which stated that “reasonable suspicion and probable cause will be based on the same factors,” was misleading and legally untenable. She held that probable cause is a more demanding standard than reasonable suspicion and merging these distinct thresholds undermines constitutional protections.

Friday’s ruling highlighted that the policy not only conflicted with established legal precedents but also failed to provide clear guidelines for officers in the field, and it put a check on the search policy allowing police to perform strip searches on “non-arrestees based on individualized articulable reasonable suspicion” who might be armed or carrying illegal material.

The judge stated, “In no way does the Court wish to reduce the tools available to police officers to achieve this safety … However, these tools must be used and applied in a constitutional manner.”

BRPD Chief of Police Thomas Morse, Jr. testified that General Order No. 281 did indeed allow for strip searches based on reasonable suspicion. Morse further admitted that while proposed changes to the policy were under consideration, none addressed the problematic reasonable suspicion standard for strip searches.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed last year that accused BRPD of severe beatings and invasive searches of individuals detained at a facility known as the “Brave Cave.” The facility came under FBI scrutiny and sparked a federal civil rights investigation and subsequent lawsuit. The ​​mayor shut down the facility, dissolved the police department’s street crimes unit, and an officer implicated in the allegations, who is the son of a deputy chief, resigned and was arrested on a simple battery charge.