Officials starting to respond to protests over strip searches at Shakopee women's prison

Rochelle Inselman had just returned to the Shakopee women's prison from Methodist Hospital, where she had undergone a hysterectomy and pelvic repai...

February 10, 2023
3:36 AM

Rochelle Inselman had just returned to the Shakopee women's prison from Methodist Hospital, where she had undergone a hysterectomy and pelvic repair, when guards did their routine check to see if she was harboring contraband in her body. They ordered the inmate to strip, squat and cough. "It hurt. It hurt real bad," she said, recalling the April 2021 incident. Nothing was found, and she was bandaged and put on strong pain medication. Inselman, 49, who is doing time for murdering her ex-boyfriend in 2012 and isn't expected to be released for another 15 years, is among the women prisoners at Shakopee appealing for an end to invasive strip searches.

Randy Furst