A class action suit brought against Baltimore's Central Booking and Intake Center has had 2 categories of plaintiff granted by a federal judge, paving the way for possibly tens of thousands of people who were processed at the booking center between May 2002 and April 2008 to register for the suit.
The suit began with 9 people who allege that they were improperly treated while at Central Booking, which is where everyone arrested within Baltimore city limits is processed. The classes certified in the suit are for 1) People detained for more than 48 hours without having been brought before a commissioner, which is prohibited; and 2) People arrested for minor, nondrug, nonviolent offenses and strip-searched before they were brought before a commissioner.