Raquel Haro v. PORTER COUNTY , INDIANA, DARROLYN S. BRADLEY , and PORTER COUNTY SHERIFF ’ SDEPARTMENT

In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Seventh Circuit
____________________
No. 23-3091
R AQUEL H ARO,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
PORTER C OUNTY , I NDIANA, DARROLYN S. BRADLEY , and PORTER
C OUNTY S HERIFF ’ S DEPARTMENT,
Defendants-Appellees.
____________________
Appeal from the United States District Court for the
Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division.
No. 2:21-CV-131-TLS — Theresa L. Springmann, Judge.
____________________
A RGUED O CTOBER 24, 2024 — DECIDED F EBRUARY 24, 2025
____________________
Before EASTERBROOK, K IRSCH , and PRYOR , Circuit Judges.
K IRSCH , Circuit Judge. After being arrested at a college
party, Raquel Haro was subjected to a strip search, including
a visual cavity inspection, during the booking and intake pro-
cess at Porter County Jail. As a security measure, the jail has
all arrestees pass through a body scanner. Jail officials singled
out Haro for a strip search because her body scan revealed a
small, unidentified object in her pelvic region. Haro concedes

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2 No. 23-3091
that the scan gave rise to reasonable suspicion of concealed
contraband and thus justified a strip search. But she maintains
that reasonable suspicion vanished mid-strip search when it
was revealed that she wore a bodysuit that fastened between
her legs with metal snaps. According to Haro, continuing the
strip search after this point was unreasonable and unlawful.
Haro sued Porter County, the county sheriff’s department,
and the officer who conducted the search under 42 U.S.C.
§ 1983, alleging that the strip search violated her rights under
the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments. The district court
granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, con-
cluding that the strip search was both justified and reasonable
in scope. We agree and affirm.
I
Shortly after midnight, police arrived at a duplex apart-
ment in Valparaiso, Indiana, to investigate a noise complaint.
Raquel Haro lived in the apartment along with two room-
mates. One of Haro’s roommates was hosting a party to cele-
brate his fraternity’s new inductees. Though some party at-
tendees were under 21, Haro was of legal drinking age and
was in the kitchen making cookies when police arrived. Offic-
ers requested the names of everyone on the lease and ulti-
mately arrested Haro and her roommates on suspicion of fur-
nishing alcohol to minors. Haro later testified that she had
never been arrested before.
Officers transported Haro and her roommates to Porter
County Jail, where they went through a body scanner as part
of the booking process. The jail had recently acquired a Soter
RS Body Scanner, which can reveal concealed objects that are
of a different density than human tissue, including metal,

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No. 23-3091 3
weapons, and narcotics. Haro signed a waiver indicating that
she had no health conditions that would make a scan unsafe
but denies being asked whether she had anything on her body
that might show up on the scan.
When she arrived at the jail, Haro was wearing a sweat-
shirt, jeans, a bodysuit, and undergarments. The bodysuit,
which Haro wore under her jeans, fastened between her legs
with two small metal snaps. The snaps appeared on the body
scan as a single, dark, oval-shaped object in Haro’s pelvic re-
gion. After viewing the scan, the supervising officer, Sergeant
William Watkins, ordered a female officer, Officer Darrolyn
Bradley, to perform a strip search of Haro. Both Sgt. Watkins
and Officer Bradley knew that some women’s bodysuits have
metal snaps between the legs, but no one mentioned the
anomaly on the scan to Haro, and Haro did not inform the
officers that she had metal in her pelvic area.
Pursuant to jail policy, Haro’s strip search took place in a
separate shower room, with only Officer Bradley and Haro
present. Officer Bradley instructed Haro to take off each piece
of clothing one-by-one and hand it to her. Haro did not ask
any questions but did tell Officer Bradley that she was wear-
ing a bodysuit and would need to remove her pants before
she could take it off. Once Haro was naked, Officer Bradley
instructed her to bend over and spread her butt cheeks as
Bradley made a brief visual inspection of Haro’s body cavi-
ties. The entire search took between 5 and 10 minutes, and
Haro was bent over for approximately 10 to 20 seconds. Im-
mediately after the search, Officer Bradley instructed Haro to
shower, gave her a uniform, and placed her in a holding cell
with two other women. Haro bonded out shortly after and
never entered the jail’s general population.

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4 No. 23-3091
Haro brought a § 1983 suit against Porter County, the Por-
ter County Sheriff’s Department, and Officer Bradley, claim-
ing that the strip search violated her rights under the Fourth
and Fourteenth Amendments.* The district court granted the
defendants’ motion for summary judgment, finding that the
strip search was adequately justified and not unreasonable in
scope. This appeal followed.
II
To prevail on a § 1983 claim, a plaintiff must prove that
she was deprived of a federal or constitutional right by an in-
dividual acting under color of state law. Bohanon v. City of In-
dianapolis, 46 F.4th 669, 675 (7th Cir. 2022). Section 1983 liabil-
ity can also extend to local governing entities if the entity’s
official policies or widespread practice caused the depriva-
tion. Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs. of N.Y.C., 436 U.S. 658, 690–
91 (1978). We review a district court’s grant of summary judg-
ment de novo, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to
the non-movant and drawing reasonable inferences in her fa-
vor. Brown v. Polk Cnty., 965 F.3d 534, 538 (7th Cir. 2020).
Strip searches that expose an individual’s bare body and
genitals are an “extraordinary interference with privacy.” Id.
at 540. Accordingly, the government’s authority to conduct
strip searches of arrestees is limited by the Fourth Amend-
ment, which guarantees the “right of the people to be secure
in their persons … against unreasonable searches and sei-
zures.”
* On appeal, Haro concedes Porter County has no authority under
state law to control acts performed by the sheriff and is therefore not a
proper defendant in this case.

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No. 23-3091 5
The “touchstone” of the Fourth Amendment inquiry is
reasonableness. Samson v. California, 547 U.S. 843, 855 n.4
(2006). Reasonableness will often turn on whether “some
quantum of individualized suspicion” justified a search.
United States v. Martinez-Fuerte, 428 U.S. 543, 560 (1976). But
recognizing that detention facilities are a “unique” context
“fraught with serious security dangers,” the Supreme Court
has held that jails may sometimes enforce suspicionless strip
search policies. Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 558–60 (1979) (up-
holding policy requiring all inmates to undergo strip searches
when they return from contact visits); Florence v. Bd. of Chosen
Freeholders of Cnty. of Burlington, 566 U.S. 318, 330 (2012) (up-
holding policy of strip searching all pretrial detainees bound
for the jail’s general population).
But these suspicionless search precedents do not “declare
detainees’ bodies open for search at any time and under any
circumstance.” Brown, 965 F.3d at 539. Florence and Bell dealt
with suspicionless strip search policies that applied univer-
sally. When a jail instead singles out individual detainees for
strip searches, we have held that such searches must be justi-
fied by reasonable suspicion. See id.; United States v. Freeman,
691 F.3d 893, 901 (7th Cir. 2012); cf. Fonder v. Sheriff of Kankakee
Cnty., 823 F.3d 1144, 1146 (7th Cir. 2016) (rejecting the as-
sumption that “the power [under Florence] to conduct a strip
search of every arrestee implies the lesser power to inspect a
subset of all arrestees”). Porter County Jail does not conduct
suspicionless strip searches of all arrestees—only those who
are bound for the jail’s general population. And arrestees
who, like Haro, are expected to bond out are placed in hold-
ing cells (for which strip searches are normally not required)
rather than the jail’s general population. Under these circum-
stances, jail officials needed reasonable suspicion to single out

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6 No. 23-3091
Haro for a strip search. But our Fourth Amendment inquiry
does not end there. In assessing the reasonableness of a
search, we “consider the scope of the particular intrusion, the
manner in which it is conducted, the justification for initiating
it, and the place in which it is conducted.” Kraushaar v. Flani-
gan, 45 F.3d 1040, 1045 (7th Cir. 1995) (quoting Bell, 441 U.S. at
559).
A
On appeal, Haro concedes that the anomaly on the scan
gave rise to reasonable suspicion of concealed contraband
and justified the initiation of a strip search. She objects, how-
ever, to the scope of the search, arguing that reasonable sus-
picion dissipated the moment Officer Bradley had the oppor-
tunity to observe the metal snaps on the body suit. After this
point, Haro argues, it was unreasonable for Officer Bradley to
proceed with the most intrusive and humiliating steps of the
search (the visual inspection of Haro’s naked body and body
cavities).
1
We are unaware of any case in which a court has found
that reasonable suspicion was dispelled partway through a
strip search. Acknowledging that this is likely a novel factual
scenario, Haro analogizes to reasonable suspicion cases from
other contexts and relies on the general principle that “the
purposes justifying a police search strictly limit the permissi-
ble extent of the search.” Maryland v. Garrison, 480 U.S. 79, 87
(1987); see also Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 18–19 (1968). But the
cases on which Haro relies are inapposite.
Haro cites multiple district court cases in which reasona-
ble suspicion of contraband dissipated after a preliminary

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No. 23-3091 7
search turned up empty. By contrast, the cavity inspection
conducted by Officer Bradley was not a secondary or separate
search—it was simply one part of a single strip search. And
the body cavity inspection was in no way untethered to the
original justification for the strip search. The scan gave rise to
reasonable suspicion that Haro was concealing contraband in
a body cavity, and it was reasonable to perform the visual cav-
ity search to confirm or dispel that suspicion.
Nor is Haro correct to analogize this situation to United
States v. Bey, 911 F.3d 139 (3d Cir. 2018), in which new infor-
mation conclusively dispelled reasonable suspicion. Id. at
145–47. In Bey, officers were presented with incontrovertible
evidence that they had stopped the wrong man once he
turned around and they could see his face. See id. at 142 (ob-
serving that Bey was darker skinned, 30 to 40 pounds heavier,
a decade older, and had far more facial hair than the suspect
officers were pursuing). By contrast, the revelation that Haro
wore a bodysuit did not compel the conclusion that she car-
ried no contraband. As a preliminary matter, it is unclear
whether Officer Bradley noticed the metal snaps during the
strip search. Haro contends there was plenty of opportunity
to observe the snaps when she removed the bodysuit and
handed it to Officer Bradley. But it would not have been un-
reasonable to overlook them; Officer Bradley was looking for
contraband, not innocuous parts of clothing that might be
mistaken for contraband. Even if Officer Bradley noticed the
snaps and thought it possible that they accounted for the
anomaly on the scan, she could hardly have been certain. On
the bodysuit, the snaps appear as two distinct metal circles
separated by fabric. The scan, however, showed a single,
larger, oval-shaped object. Haro maintains that the dark spot
was undoubtedly the snaps, because they were metal and yet

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8 No. 23-3091
show up nowhere else on the scan. But Officer Bradley was
not required to make this connection mid-strip search. An of-
ficer cannot be expected to simultaneously conduct a careful
search for contraband while also mentally comparing every
zipper, snap, and button she encounters against a body scan
image she has committed to memory.
2
We also stress that this was a search conducted in a jail, a
unique setting in which we accord officials “wide-ranging
deference” to design search policies needed “to maintain in-
stitutional security.” Bell, 441 U.S. at 547. In practice, this
means we defer to officials’ judgment that a given search pol-
icy is “reasonably related to legitimate security interests” ab-
sent “substantial evidence in the record to indicate that the
officials have exaggerated their response to these considera-
tions.” Florence, 566 U.S. at 328 (quotation omitted).
Haro contends that a general policy requiring jail officials
to complete each and every step of a strip search once it has
begun is unreasonable. There is some dispute as to what ex-
actly Porter County Jail’s policy required, and though we
think it would be the rare case where such a policy would
prove unreasonable, we need not resolve that issue today. It
was not unreasonable for Officer Bradley to continue this strip
search when uncertainty as to the presence of contraband per-
sisted. “Detecting contraband concealed by new detainees []
is a most serious responsibility. Weapons, drugs, and alcohol
all disrupt the safe operation of a jail.” Id. at 332. Completing
every step of a strip search lessens the likelihood that detain-
ees might successfully smuggle in contraband. Indeed, the
company that makes the Soter RS Body Scanner cautions
against assuming that objects on the scan are clothing, as

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No. 23-3091 9
inmates may try to evade detection of contraband by deliber-
ately concealing it behind metal items or fasteners. Haro
counters that she had little motive or opportunity to conceal
contraband in this way. We don’t doubt her, but jails pose
unique security challenges precisely because officials “know
so little about the people they admit.” Id. at 336; see also id. at
336–37 (“[O]fficers who conduct an initial search often do not
have access to criminal history records.… In the absence of
reliable information it would be illogical to require officers to
assume the arrestees in front of them do not pose a risk of
smuggling something into the facility.”) (citation omitted).
The fact that Porter County Jail employs a body scanner
does not alter our Fourth Amendment analysis. It’s true that,
in Haro’s case, officers could have conclusively dispelled their
reasonable suspicion without a visual cavity inspection. Had
officers realized Haro was wearing a bodysuit with metal
snaps, it might have been prudent to ask her to remove it and
go through the scanner again. But doing so was not constitu-
tionally required. A jail’s choice to employ a body scanner
does not subject its use of strip searches to heightened consti-
tutional scrutiny. And courts should be wary of dictating how
and when jail officials must use the various screening tools at
their disposal. A rule that requires officers to halt mid-strip
search and attempt to dispel reasonable suspicion by rescan-
ning arrestees could easily prove problematic in practice. It
may make it difficult to efficiently usher arrestees through the
intake process, particularly in small jails where personnel and
equipment are limited. It could also lead to prolonged or re-
peated strip searches in cases where reasonable suspicion per-
sists even after a second scan. As these considerations illus-
trate, “the problems that arise in the day-to-day operation of
a corrections facility are not susceptible of easy solutions.”

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10 No. 23-3091
Bell, 441 U.S. at 547. Where, as here, jail officials have struck a
reasonable balance between safety, administrability, and pri-
vacy, we will not disturb their judgment.
B
Officer Bradley did not exceed the permissible scope of the
search by completing every step of the strip search process,
including the visual cavity inspection. Nor is there any sug-
gestion that Officer Bradley otherwise carried out the search
in an unreasonable manner: it is undisputed that she con-
ducted the search in a private area with no one else present,
that the inspection was visual only, and that she moved
through the steps of the search swiftly—particularly the body
cavity inspection, which lasted only 10 to 20 seconds. Of
course, even the most efficient strip search is still a significant
invasion of privacy, and we do not minimize what was un-
doubtedly a distressing and unpleasant experience for Haro.
But given the facts presented here, no rational jury could con-
clude that Officer Bradley’s actions violated the Fourth
Amendment. Because Officer Bradley’s actions were not un-
constitutional, we need not consider her qualified immunity
defense. And in the absence of any underlying constitutional
violation, there is no liability for the Porter County Sheriff’s
Department under Monell. See Swanigan v. City of Chi., 775
F.3d 953, 962 (7th Cir. 2015).
A FFIRMED

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