WILLIAMSPORT - A strip search of a suspect by two Lycoming County police officers may have been unlawful but they are shielded from liability by qualified immunity, a federal judge says.

U.S. Middle District Judge Keli M. Neary made that ruling Friday when she dismissed the federal claims in the suit filed by Kyle Beatty of Williamsport against former Williamsport officer Clinton Gardner and county detective Calvin Irvin.

This doctrine of qualified immunity shields officers from liability unless they violate a right that was clearly established at the time the events transpired. Qualified immunity protects all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.

See Full Page