Searches

A person’s DNA is the blueprint of one’s identity. The ACLU-WA opposes proposals to collect DNA from people who are merely arrested, regardless of whether they are convicted.

In the first legal action of its kind in Washington, two sets of parents of Wahkiakum High School students filed a lawsuit on Dec. 17, 1999 challenging Wahkiakum School District’s policy of suspicionless urine testing for students who participate in extracurricular athletic activities.

The American Civil Liberties Union today filed claims for compensation with the U.S. Treasury Department on behalf of two Somali businessmen in Seattle. The businessmen seek fair compensation for losses suffered from a raid in early November by government agents seeking assets of a completely separate money-transfer business.

Okanogan County has paid a settlement of $35,000 to a young woman for subjecting her to an illegal strip search at the county's juvenile detention facility in 1999. The young woman was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. The County changed its strip search policy for juveniles shortly after the ACLU initially contacted officials about the matter.

After more than two years of negotiations by the ACLU, two Somali merchants finally are receiving compensation for losses they suffered in a raid by government agents.

Washington Supreme Court found (in State v. Smith) that "exigent circumstances" existed when police searched a home without a warrant and therefore the search was valid.

Under pressure from civil libertarians, the Washington State Patrol has suspended searching randomly selected cars of people seeking to board state ferries. While the state patrol had claimed the searches were voluntary, motorists who did not consent to the arbitrary searches were prevented from boarding the boat.