A Sioux City attorney says Woodbury County jailers have continually violated the constitutional rights of female prisoners by conducting unwarranted strips searches in the county jail. Attorney Dave O’Brien is representing Shannon Peters and Nicole Clay in lawsuits against the county and the Sheriff’s Department over the strip searches. He says three women have received settlements of 385-thousand dollars in strip search cases, but that didn’t solve the problem. “Jail administration stood up and eventually understood that what they were doing was wrong and their policy was unconstitutional and they’ve corrected that. And I applaud them for that,” O’Brien says. “But unfortunately there are certain correctional officers that just haven’t gotten the message. And that’s what happened to Shannon, most recently, and also to Nicole Clay.”

O’Brien says his clients were given unlawful demands by jailers and read testimony from a case deposition by Jail Administrator, Lieutenant Lynett Phillips, regarding the strip searches of Clay and Peters. “If the correctional officer tells the detainee you have to strip naked in front of me even when the policy does not justify the detainee taking their clothes off, is the detainee required to follow the instructions of the correctional officer. Answer, ‘yes’,” O’Brien read. “They don’t get it.”

O’Brien says a deposition from the officer in charge when Clay was brought in on a public intoxication charge said she was forced to strip in front of him after refusing to undress herself. O’Brien says his clients were brought to the jail for legitimate reasons, but that does not allow for their rights to be violated. He says the Woodybury County Jail needs a top to bottom overhaul. Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew was not in office when the strip searches happened. He says he cannot comment on the ongoing lawsuits, and has been advised not to meet with O’Brien. “At one time after I took office he wanted to meet with me…and through the legal advice of three different attorneys, “I) said it would be best if we met after litigation was over,”Drew said.

Drew says he kept the jail administrator in place, although some changes and reviews are taking place. He says since he has taken office there are supervisors overseeing each shift at the jail and they are working on going over the policies and directives. Drew says jailers have a tough job, but people must be treated with respect and dignity.

(Radio Iowa)

Police in Red Oak report the arrest today (Friday), of 61-year old Ginger Lee Urban, of Red Oak. Urban was taken into custody at around 8:40-a.m., on warrants out of Pottawattamie County, and Sarpy County, Nebraska, for shoplifting (Theft in the 3rd degree). She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $2,000 bond, pending transport to the Pott. County Jail.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety says as motorists take to the roads during the upcoming Memorial Day holiday, Iowa law enforcement officials are urging everyone to “Buckle up.” Officers around the state will be out in force as part of the 2013 National “Click it or Ticket” seat belt enforcement mobilization, cracking down on motorists who are not wearing their seat belts, as well as other traffic violators. The enforcement effort runs May 20th through June 2nd.

In 2012, there were 364 traffic fatalities in Iowa, according to data from the DOT. 167 of those victims, or almost 46-percent, were not wearing their seat belts. For those killed in crashes at night, the percent of unbuckled motorists grew another 15.5-percent.

During a four-day Special Traffic Enforcement Program (sTEP) in March 2013, 205 law enforcement agencies and 1,828 officer reported 16,922 traffic violations. 388 crashes were investigated, and 879 motorists were assisted.

ONAWA, Iowa (AP) – An Onawa woman will learn next week whether she’s been convicted of murdering her 15-month-old son.  Judge Jeffrey Neary said Thursday, that he’ll announce his verdict May 17th,  in the case against 25-year-old Ashley Cameron. She was charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment in the death of Markis Dahms. Neary heard the case during a nonjury trial last month.

Investigators testified that Cameron told them Markis had vomited in the bathtub and that she held his head under a running faucet to clean him, repeating that process as he vomited four or five more times.  Cameron testified that she’d left him in the tub to get some items and found him face down in the water when she returned. Her attorney suggested that Markis may have had a seizure.