Last August, police in Lorain, Ohio, arrested a man they suspected of hiding a baggie of drugs in his butt. He denied it, but police were certain, so they took him to a local hospital for a body cavity search.
The case then swerved into unusual territory: The man would not agree to the procedure, so the police got a judge to order it. The doctors refused, saying it was dangerous and unethical — and later added that it violated the hospital’s Catholic principles.
The police pushed back. The doctors didn’t budge. The dispute spiraled.
The hospital now faces criminal charges and has been forced to dismantle its in-house police force. It has sued authorities, alleging retaliation and discrimination. And the man who was held at the hospital while the two sides fought over his bowel movements says he was humiliated and violated by the experience.
Archived at https://ghostarchive.org/archive/Ubygs
As the stalemate dragged on, Harris remained held in the 338-bed hospital, where staff said no foreign object emerged. “Nothing came out other than natural stuff,” he said.
Why was this not the obvious plan B when the search became an issue? Why is it still an issue after no drugs came out? Is it just because the police want to prove their authority over your body?
All the doctors needed to do was call in a Catholic priest who specializes in butt stuff.
Really good article that people should read, but…
TLDR:
Cops thought a backseat passenger put drugs up his but during minor traffic stop.
Got a warrant and tried to make a (Catholic) hospital to pull it out
They refused and said it would be incredibly dangerous.
Cops retaliated by no longer stationing police at the hospital, so the hospital is suing the cops.
So it’s interesting but also important. No one wants to live in a country where being in the backseat of a car that fails to single means cops can do cavity searches. And cops intimidating medical professionals is an issue that’s been going on for decades, and neither party seems authentically interested in reigning in police.
Also of note:
- No drugs were found.
- It’s so dangerous because if drugs are there and a bag tears, an OD can be rapid and fatal. Harris additionally objected to the search, and thus it would’ve been unethical unto itself.
- Harris had a history of drug violations, but the cops’ only “evidence” something was wrong was 1) the SUV pulled up to a house they were staking out (what they presumed to be a drug house), 2) claimed they saw a “white item at the entrance of his anus”, 3) an officer purported to feel drugs near Harris’ groin, and 4) a CT scan showed an object in the bowels but could not determine if it was foreign (again, Harris had no drugs).
- You absolutely do not have to perform a cavity search; you can just wait for the object to come out naturally through a bowel movement.
- Harris was seemingly held for two days (arrested August 10, president of the hospital allegedly threatened the police chief to comply the night of August 12, Harris “shortly after” was issued a court summons and released).
- Harris was charged with obstruction and tampering and is awaiting trial even though no drugs were ever found.
ACAB.
Gee I wonder who is at wrong here.
