The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on Friday ruled against a Colorado inmate alleging unreasonable strip searches and retaliation on the grounds that such conduct generally followed protocol and is acceptable in a prison context.

Darrel Alan Hyberg, Jr. is a prisoner at Sterling Correctional Facility, where, he alleged, strip searches are “a routine part of life”. He works for the Colorado Correctional Industries’ seat-manufacturing factory, and after a shift on Jan. 24, 2017, he was ordered into a strip search in an area which he found afforded no privacy.

Hyberg underwent the inspection, including of his genitals, while two other inmates stood “less than five feet away.” Afterward, he filed a grievance and prison officials rebuilt the search area to include a curtain.

Three months later, a corrections officer again ordered a strip search for Hyberg, telling him “You get the cubicle with the curtain, just for you”. However, wrote circuit Judge Bobby R. Baldock, the guard “purposely allowed another inmate to walk between himself and Hyberg so the other inmate could see Hyberg naked. Surprised, the other inmate raised his hands and said, ‘Whoa-whoa-whoa,’ as he walked out of the search area.”

Hyberg filed suit against the corrections officers alleging a Fourth Amendment violation of unreasonable search, and a First Amendment claim alleging retaliation for his complaint.

The court found that Hyberg’s strip searches followed protocol and were not malicious or intrusive compared to other scenarios that courts have held to violate the Fourth Amendment. Furthermore, any conduct that Hyberg perceived as retaliation was “trivial” and did not constitute a First Amendment violation.

Citing previous circuit precedent from 2009, Baldock observed that “the Supreme Court has repeatedly recognized that the role of the Constitution within their walls is quite limited. Government conduct that would be unacceptable, even outrageous, in another setting may be acceptable, even necessary, in a prison.”

Baldock also concluded that a related claim from Hyberg that he received subpar performance evaluations at his factory job due to retaliation against his strip search complaint was unmerited. Such conduct by corrections officers, the court believed “would not deter a person of ordinary firmness” from filing a grievance as Hyberg did.

The case is Darrel Alan Hyberg, Jr. v. Ken Enslow, et al.