A woman was subject to “sexual assault and gratuitous radiological bombardment” by the police because… a dog prompted them to!

“First the agents strip-searched the plaintiff, examining her anus and vagina with a flashlight. Finding nothing, they took her to the University Medical Center of El Paso, where they forced her to take a laxative and produce a bowel movement in their presence. Again they found no evidence of contraband. At this point one of their accomplices, a physician named Christopher Cabanillas, ordered an X-ray, which likewise found nothing suspicious. Then the plaintiff “endured a forced gynecological exam” and rectal probing at the hands of another doctor, Michael Parsa. Still nothing. Finally, Cabanillas ordered a CT scan of the plaintiff’s abdomen and pelvis, which found no sign of illegal drugs. ‘After the CT scan,’ the complaint says, ‘a CBP [Customs and Border Patrol] agent presented Ms. Doe with a choice: she could either sign a medical consent form, despite the fact that she had not consented, in which case CBP would pay for the cost of the searches; or if she refused to sign the consent form, she would be billed for the cost of the searches.’ She refused, and later the hospital sent her a bill for $5,000, apparently the going rate for sexual assault and gratuitous radiological bombardment.”

What exactly prompted this? A police dog lunged on to the woman and put its paws on her. This may not actually be the dogs fault though:

“The agents instructed the plaintiff to stand in line with other people who had been selected for additional screening and walked a dog past her. According to the lawsuit, the dog handler ‘hit the ground by her feet, but did not hit the ground by any of the others in the line’.”

What’s troubling is that such actions by the police have often been given the rubber stamp approval of the courts:

“Although such alerts are frequently wrong and can easily be faked, the Supreme Court has said they qualify as probable cause for a search as long as the dog is properly trained. The burden of showing a dog is not properly trained lies with the person challenging the search.”

The Son of Sam, has gone from criminal to an inspiration for the police.

P. S. Fido told me to write this.

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