Bell v. Wolfish

Bell v. Wolfish
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 16, 1979
Decided May 14, 1979
Full case nameGriffin Bell, Attorney General, et al. v. Wolfish, et al.
Citations441 U.S. 520 (more)
99 S. Ct. 1861; 60 L. Ed. 2d 447; 1979 U.S. LEXIS 100
Case history
PriorU.S. ex rel. Wolfish v. Levi, 439 F. Supp. 114 (S.D.N.Y. 1977), aff'd in part, rev'd in part sub nom. Wolfish v. Levi, 573 F.2d 118 (2d Cir. 1978); cert. granted, 439 U.S. 816 (1978).
SubsequentVacated and remanded, Wolfish v. Levi, 681 F.2d 803 (2d Cir. 1981).
Holding
The Fourth Amendment does not prohibit strip searches and similar intrusive conduct against persons being held in federal prison while awaiting trial.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart
Byron White · Thurgood Marshall
Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr.
William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
MajorityRehnquist, joined by Burger, Stewart, White, Blackmun
Concur/dissentPowell
DissentMarshall
DissentStevens, joined by Brennan
Laws applied
U.S. Const., amend. IV

Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520 (1979), is a case in which the United States Supreme Court addressed the constitutionality of various conditions of confinement of inmates held in federal short-term detention facilities.[1] The Court narrowly found[2] that while treatment of pre-trial detainees is subject to constraint by the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments,[2] all of the policies challenged in the case passed constitutional scrutiny.[1]

  1. ^ a b Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 523 (1979).
  2. ^ (by a 5–4 decision in part and a 6–3 decision in the other part)