Court Votes 5-4 for Police Probe to Uranus

• Drivin' with a noisy muffler? That's a strippin'.
• Failin' to use a turn signal? That's a strippin'.
• Twiddlin' your thumbs while your wife breaks the posted speed limit? That's a strippin'.
• Riding a bicycle without an audible bell? Oh, you'd better believe that's a strippin'.

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that officials may strip-search people arrested for any offense, however minor, before admitting them to jails even if the officials have no reason to suspect the presence of contraband.…

“Every detainee who will be admitted to the general population may be required to undergo a close visual inspection while undressed,” Justice Kennedy wrote, adding that about 13 million people are admitted each year to the nation’s jails.…

The procedures endorsed by the majority are forbidden by statute in at least 10 states and are at odds with the policies of federal authorities. According to a supporting brief filed by the American Bar Association, international human rights treaties also ban the procedures.…

Justice Stephen G. Breyer, writing for the four dissenters, said the strip-searches the majority allowed were “a serious affront to human dignity and to individual privacy” and should be used only when there was good reason to do so.…

Justice Kennedy responded that “people detained for minor offenses can turn out to be the most devious and dangerous criminals.… ”