IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – A treatment center for Iowa sex offenders will remove surveillance cameras from bathrooms and pay $22,000 in legal fees to settle a lawsuit brought by patients.    The settlement confirmed Wednesday comes after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that the cameras violated offenders’ right to privacy.  The Civil Commitment Unit for Sex Offenders in Cherokee houses sexually violent predators that are involuntarily locked up for treatment after their prison terms expire.
 
The cameras were installed after a sexual assault and another incident in which a patient with a disease had sex with another patient unaware of his condition. The appeals court said cameras might deter such behavior, but there are less intrusive ways to do so.  Plaintiffs’ attorney Pamela Wingert says the ruling “breaks new ground.”