Levka v. City of Chicago

Levka (plaintiff) was arrested for a misdemeanor and, under Chicago's (defendant) policy of strip-searching every female arrestee regardless of the charge or any actual suspicion of drugs or weapons, was strip-searched at the jail by female correctional officers who were pleasant and nonthreatening throughout. That same strip-search policy had already been held unconstitutional in a separate case. Levka sued under 42 U.S.C. section 1983, testifying she felt debased, humiliated, and abused, and that the experience left her afraid to go outside alone at night, though the City challenged that lasting-effects testimony. After roughly an hour in custody, Levka was released; a jury awarded her $50,000, and the City's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, a new trial, or remittitur was denied.