http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=684459MIAMI Apr 19, 2005 — Miami-Dade County has agreed to pay more than $6 million to settle a lawsuit filed by three women who were strip-searched after their arrests during 2003 protests over a free-trade gathering.
The tentative settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed by Judith Haney, Liat Mayer and Jamie Loughner was signed Monday by U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan in Miami. Final approval could come during a court hearing scheduled for Sept. 23.
The lawsuit caused the county to change its strip-search policy and stop searches of people arrested for minor offenses, said Janelle Hall, a spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade Corrections Department.
The three women were among 234 people arrested during 2003 during a Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting in Miami. They said they were strip-searched at the county jail, which had conducted such searches for years.
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