Pubdate: Wed, 15 Aug 2001
Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA)
Copyright: 2001 The Fresno Bee
Contact:  http://www.fresnobee.com/

CUSTOMS AGENTS SMIRKED DURING AIRPORT STRIP SEARCH, PLAINTIFF TESTIFIES

CHICAGO -- A woman suing the government for alleged psychological 
damage incurred during an airport strip search testified Tuesday that 
two Customs agents smirked at her while she was put through a four- 
hour ordeal.

Kathryn Kaniff, 36, said the two female agents at O'Hare 
International Airport conducted a rough and humiliating strip search 
in December 1997, then "smirked" at her as she put her clothes back 
on.

Kaniff apologized to the agents at the time. "To this day, I don't 
know why I was apologizing to those girls after what they did to me," 
Kaniff, a hairdresser from Washington Island, Wis., testified at the 
federal civil trial.

Though Kaniff's lawyers didn't mention any specific damages in their 
opening statement to the jury Monday, court papers put damages sought 
at as much as $2 million.

Kaniff's 1999 lawsuit came as the U.S. Customs Service was under 
attack for singling out African-American women for intrusive strip- 
searches after international flights. The agency enacted several 
reforms as a result.

The lawsuit by Kaniff, who is white, is believed to be the first 
accusing the Customs Service of wrongdoing to go to trial.

Government lawyers say that agents Olga Martinez and Guadalupe Corona 
White were merely doing their duty.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Simon said inspectors have to play 
detective, using deduction to determine whether a traveler's story 
makes sense.

Simon said Kaniff drew suspicion for several reasons: She had bought 
her airline ticket on short notice and paid cash, didn't stay at a 
hotel in Jamaica, traveled alone from a country that was a common 
source for marijuana and hashish, and had made several trips to 
Jamaica in recent years despite her low income.

Kaniff was stopped on her return to Chicago, where she lived at the 
time, from Jamaica. A drug-sniffing dog indicated that she might have 
drugs on her. No drugs were found.

Kaniff testified that she accurately told Customs agents that she was 
self-employed and bought her ticket through a travel agent.

Suspecting Kaniff might have narcotics hidden in a body cavity, an 
inspector obtained the supervisor's approval to conduct a partial 
strip-search, but no contraband was found.

Authorities insist they then won Kaniff's consent to take an X-ray at 
Resurrection Hospital, but Kaniff's lawyers say she never signed the 
consent form.
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