For those of us interested in the rights of students in public schools the case before the Supreme Court is important. Savanna Redding was a Arizona middle school student some 6 years ago when she was strip-searched in the school's nurse's office. The 13 year old was believed to be in possession of drugs, based on a friend telling the officials she saw them. She was found to have "perscription-strength ibuprofen" on her (to my knowledge this is not an illegal drug). She was forced to remove her clothing down to her underwear and to move the underwear so the nurse could check beheath. No illegal drugs were found. She took her case to court and last year the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled her search was unreasonable and unconstitutional. Now it appears the US Supreme Court is about to overturn that decision. A lawyer for the school board said that even a body cavity search would be legal, thou he thought no school official would have gone that far. The case is Safford School District v. Redding. More on this later.
(Source: CNN news item on 4/21/09)
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