Christina Cardenas’s Settlement: $5.6M for Tehachapi Strip Search

Christina Cardenas, the wife of a California state prison inmate, reached a $5.6 million settlement with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and other defendants in September 2024, resolving her lawsuit over a strip search and invasive body cavity examination she was subjected to during a 2019 visit to her husband at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi. The agreement also required the CDCR to change how it handles searches of prison visitors.

What Happened at Tehachapi in September 2019

On September 6, 2019, Cardenas drove four hours to see her husband, Carlos Eugene Cardenas, whom she had not seen in more than a year.¹ Officers told her they had a search warrant and ordered her to remove her clothing, squat over a mirror, cough, and spread her genitalia. No contraband was found.²

Officers then handcuffed her and walked her through the facility to Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley hospital, which her attorneys later called a “humiliating perp walk.”³ At the hospital she was given X-rays, a CT scan, a drug test, and a pregnancy test. Neither the X-ray nor the scan showed any foreign object.⁴

The warrant stipulated that a body cavity search could proceed only if X-rays confirmed the presence of a foreign object. According to the lawsuit, it went forward anyway. A male doctor performed a manual body cavity examination while a correctional officer stood in the room. Cardenas said she had explicitly objected to being examined by a male physician because of past trauma.²

She was denied water and bathroom access for most of the process, was made to answer personal medical questions in front of officers while handcuffed, and was ultimately denied her visit. She later received more than $5,000 in hospital bills.³ According to attorney Gloria Allred, a correctional officer told Cardenas during the process, “Why do you visit, Christina? You don’t have to visit. It’s a choice, and this is part of visiting.”⁴

The Lawsuit and Defendants

Cardenas filed suit in 2020 in Kern County Superior Court, docketed as Cardenas v. Adame, Case No. BCV-20-101420.⁵ Defendants included correctional officer Gabriel Adame, a second officer identified as Rodriguez, Dr. I-Weng Tseng, Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley, the CDCR, the California Correctional Institution, and the State of California.⁶

Cardenas was represented by Gloria Allred and the firm Allred, Maroko & Goldberg.⁷ The complaint alleged officers exceeded the scope of the search warrant, that Cardenas was sexually violated during the hospital examination, and that her privacy and HIPAA protections were violated when she was questioned about her medical history in front of officers.²

How the $5.6 Million Breaks Down

The case was resolved by negotiated settlement, not a jury verdict. The CDCR gave its final signoff on September 5, 2024.⁵ The $5.6 million total was split between the state and the medical defendants:

$3.6 million from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
$2 million from the remaining defendants, including Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley and Dr. I-Weng Tseng.⁵

All defendants denied wrongdoing as part of the agreement.⁷ A request by Cardenas’s team for a court injunction against body cavity searches of female visitors was not included in the final terms.⁶

What the Settlement Changed for Prison Visitors

The agreement obligates the CDCR to distribute training materials to prison staff making clear that the scope of a search warrant must not be exceeded. Visitors must be given copies of any search warrants served on them, and the warrants must be read and explained so the visitor understands them. Non-English speakers must receive this information in their primary language.⁵ Allred said these protections apply to all prison visitors, not just spouses of inmates.³

Why Cardenas Said She Sued

At a press conference on September 9, 2024, Cardenas said the experience left her traumatized. “My motivation in pursuing this lawsuit was to ensure that others do not have to endure the same egregious offenses that I experienced,” she stated.³ She also said the September 2019 incident was not the first time she had been strip-searched at the facility, describing an earlier search when she came to marry her husband and continuing difficulties during subsequent visits.⁸

1
Los Angeles Times. $5.6 Million Settlement After Alleged Sexual Assault of Visitor to California Prison
2
USA Today. Christina Cardenas Husband Lawsuit Strip Search Settlement
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CNN. California Prison Strip Search Settlement
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NBC News. Wife of California Inmate Wins $5.6 Million Settlement Strip Search
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Prison Legal News. $5.6 Million Settlement California Prisoner’s Wife Strip Searched During Visit
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ASIS International. Prison Strip Search Settlement
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The New York Times. Inmate Wife Strip Search Settlement California
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Corrections1. Wife of Calif. Inmate Wins $5.6M in Settlement for Strip Search