A New Strip Joint in Town?

In a story headlined Woman wants apology after court scans bra, Coeur d'Alene Press staff writer Marc Stewart recounted how a woman responding to instructions to appear in federal court in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, had been required to remove her underwire bra so it could be fluoroscoped. There were no women court security officers (CSO) available, nor was there a private changing room where she could remove the bra. Her options were to return to her car and remove it or find a public restroom somewhere outside the courthouse. No, there were no restrooms available in the public unscured area inside the courthouse. Needing to get where she was going in the courthouse, she and her husband complied as well as they could. Her husband spread his coat to do his best to shield her from the views of male CSOs and the public, and she removed the bra.

Now, before getting all cranked off about this, it is important to realize that the CSOs are essentially civilian contractors who have limited law enforcement/security authority and are supervised by the US Marshals Service (USMS). The USMS responsibilities for protecting the courts include, "Ensuring the safe conduct of judicial proceedings and protecting federal judges, jurors and other members of the judiciary..."

How well has the USMS fulfilled that responsibility? Not as well as hoped according to the US Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General.

According to a September 2007 report titled The United States Marshals Service Judicial Security Process, the USMS needs improvement in protective intelligence and the execution of protective operations.

So what is happening at "Chez Fed", Coeur d'Alene's newest strip joint? According to today's Coeur d'Alene Press article by Marc Stewart, the US courthouse in Coeur d'Alene still does not have any women CSO's, but it does now have "...a secure and private room to remove articles of clothing that need to be scanned by metal detectors". Presumably after the person has cleared the security checkpoint, s/he goes into a secured restroom and puts on the article of clothing that had been removed for fluoroscopic examination. And it is hoped that a CSO searches the secure and private room for any weapons or other contraband the person may have abandoned there.