Posted on 07/13/2008 9:25:13 AM PDT by 21stCenturyFreeThinker
Schools may not strip-search students for drugs based on an unverified tip, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
Overturning two other rulings, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said an assistant principal at an Arizona middle school violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old by ordering her to be strip-searched. He thought the honor student had prescription-strength ibuprofen; she did not.
The 6-5 ruling by the San Francisco-based court reinstated a lawsuit that a divided three-judge circuit panel threw out last year. The lawsuit was brought by the parents of Savana Redding, who was an eighth-grader at Safford Middle School in southeastern Arizona when the assistant principal ordered her out of math class and into his office to investigate whether she had violated a school policy that prohibited students from bringing medication -- even over-the-counter medication -- to school.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Some of the dissent.
Judge Michael Daly Hawkins, joined by Chief Judge Alex Kozinski and Judge Carlos T. Bea, dissented on the grounds that the search was constitutional.Hawkins wrote: "School officials deserve the greatest latitude when responding to behavior that threatens the health and safety of students or teachers . . .
"When school officials reasonably believe that a student is carrying a weapon or harmful drugs, it will rarely be unreasonable for them to do what they can to neutralize the danger."
Although ibuprofen is mild, "that does not mean it is never harmful," Hawkins wrote.
And you sit there and take it.
put your paws on my kid and you’re gonna hafta take your chances with me.
Yes I agree...do not want school officials searching kids without cause.
So many pervs in our schools...and in some states (like Florida)....school workers are protected from some of the predator/child abuse laws that most Floridians have to abide to.
Had a simialr situation w my teenage sister. Some school wonk thought she was taking illegal drugs. Even after the sherriff’s deputy decided that the school wonk’s claim was unfounded....the school official persisted.
Although ibuprofen is mild, "that does not mean it is never harmful," Hawkins wrote.Of course nose picking is not "never harmful". What draconian measure will he support to combat this dangerous practice?
If there is the will to alter consciousness there will always be a way.
Prohibition CREATES black market murdering bootleggers. Prohibition does NOT work, it makes things like this happen.
I received an unverified tip that Judge Hawkins is in the habit of hiding weapons or harmful drugs in his rectum while in Court.
Some 290 pound police officer, preferably one from the San Francisco P.D., really needs to check out that tip in order to neutralize the danger.
“...violated a school policy that prohibited students from bringing medication...”
Imagine their chagrin if they’d found some school-supplied birth control pills...
Agreed....
When I was a kid, I had headaches a lot and carried OTC pills all the time.
I can't imagine being a kid in school these days, having to go to a nurse for constant headaches. I'm sure the school would begin some sort of inquisition when I simply suffered chronic sinus headaches.
I don't want kids strip searched but at the same time if one...say was thought to be hiding a gun I would want it taken away.I think what the court said is that ibuprofen is not a sufficient reason to do a strip search. A gun probably would be a sufficient reason.
The...I hate to call it an incident...but when that boy came to school with guns... the custodian took one away from him. He still ended up killing his principal with another. I think that justifies “putting paws” on someones kid. If a situation is not considered life threatening though call the parents. She wasn’t going to shoot anyone with a Motrin tablet.
“”that does not mean it is never harmful,””
Well, if that is the criterion, then they can strip search if they suspect the student is carrying a pencil.
Just what the hell DID happen to this country, anyway?
The court was correct in that this search should not have taken place. The problem is that the court should never have been involved. The school board should be the first place where policy is set and if necessary the State government could proscribe district policy as California has done. Allowing the Courts to make our laws is asking for tyranny. Federal Judges are unelected, they issue edicts with no need for compromise, and they essentially forbid the people to ever have any influence over the decision again.
You want to strip search a child who might have a gun? Where would they put it? Up in her vagina? In another opening in her body? Underneath her breasts? You’ve got to be kidding me. There aren’t other ways to pat down someone for weapons without making them take off their clothes?
Reason #3067 why I homeschool.
The (th very seldom makes the right decision.
This time they did.
Yeah, I’d end up in jail right after I introduced myself and closed the assistant principal’s door.
School officials have no business putting their hands on any child. Not mine, not yours, not anyones.
If they have a suspicion of unlawful or unsafe behavior they should call the cops and the parents.
If the child is unruly he or she doesn’t belong there and should be removed.
Lastly, teachers should have no qualms about maintaining order in their classrooms. If the child misbehaves, remove him.
My .02
I'm quite sure how I feel about it. The idiot school nurse and administrative assistant to the jackass of an assistant principal should be fired. Kerry Wilson himself should go to jail for child abuse. The dissenting judges should themselves be disrobed, (down to their skivvies) and then evaluated by qualified mental health professionals.
I agree.
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