Robert Michenfelder v. George Sumner Lieutenant Koon C/o Horn C/o Leslie Sgt Jenae Holmes Sgt Stuffelbeam James Parker

Robert Michenfelder, a maximum security prisoner, appeals an adverse judgment in his § 1983 action against Nevada state prison officials for conducting strip searches and otherwise exposing unclothed male inmates to view by female guards in the course of their duties in violation of the fourth and eighth amendments. The district court found the searches reasonable, given the prison’s legitimate security concerns and female prison employees’ rights to equal employment opportunities. It also found that the prison’s taser gun policy did not violate the Eighth Amendment. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

When this action commenced Michenfelder was an inmate in the Nevada State Prison’s (NSP) Unit 7, the maximum security unit for the state’s 40 most dangerous prisoners. Defendant Sumner was then warden of the NSP and is now Director of the Nevada Department of Prisons. Other named defendants are correctional officers and prison administrators at NSP.

Strip searches are conducted every time a Unit Seven inmate leaves or returns to the unit, as well as after movement under escort within the unit, such as for sick call, recreation, disciplinary hearings, and visits. The strip searches complained…