The ruling was part of lawsuit filed against the county by a Salvadoran woman.
FREDERICK, Md. (AP) – A federal judge has ruled that Frederick County is liable to pay damages in a Salvadoran woman’s lawsuit over being wrongfully profiled and arrested.
A judge ruled last week that the county is liable for the policy that permitted sheriff’s deputies to detain people suspected of violating immigration law and Roxana Orellana Santos can seek damages.
Santos filed the suit in 2009 claiming that deputies violated her rights by subjecting her to unreasonable searches and seizures. Deputies approached Santos as she ate lunch outside work in 2008 and arrested her on an outstanding immigration warrant.
She lost in District Court, but an appeals court ruled authorities can’t detain or arrest someone on the suspicion that they’re in the country illegally and Santos could sue.
By The Associated Press