The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a parolee who says he was forcibly catheterized to provide a urine sample.
Wyoming A-C-L-U Attorney Jennifer Horvath says Parolee Daniel Delaney did consent to testing without search warrants, but he had submitted a breath and blood sample.
“And he attempted to provide urine but was unable to. They didn’t give him extra time, sort of privately, they didn’t put him in another room and say here’s a dry room and we are going to give you an option to provide urine, they didn’t do any of those things. They also had a blood test that head tested negative for substances other than alcohol or sleeping pills.”
Horvath says Delaney was handcuffed to a bed and forcibly held down while nurses at the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center catheterized him at the parole officer’s orders. The American Civil Liberties Union says it is suing the Cheyenne Police Department and the Wyoming Department of Corrections for violating Daniel Delaney’s fourth amendment rights against unreasonable searches. A-C-L-U attorney Jennifer Horvath says authorities went too far.
“The fourth amendment applies to everyone and a parolee may have something called a diminished expectation of privacy. And for parolees we expect them to give up a lot more privacy. But we don’t expect them to be subjected to completely unreasonable searches. "
Horvath says there were likely other violations as well. Corrections and police officials did not react to the lawsuit.