Parents Take On Public Schools
By: Tommy Elder, Jr.
In an Arizona Public School case- a thirteen year old
honor
student went through a strip search for drug paraphenalia. The child i.e. Savanna
Redding, was an eight grade student in 2003 in Safford, Arizona . Another student caught with the banned substance ibu profen pills claimed Savanna as the source.
Immediately, school authorities performed a search of Savanna Redding`s property and forced her to strip to her bra and underwear. She received an order `to pull her bra out to the side and shake it` and pull out her underwear at the crotch and shake it. ` They did not find any pills.
At trial, a judge threw out the Redding`s allegation against the district stating that- ``they (the school system`s employees acting officially) were immune from (the) suit.`` The full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 6 to 5 to reverse the decision. The appeals court`s decree said that the lawsuit may proceed against the assistant principal- the person who ordered the search.
Writing for the majority Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw said- `It does not require a constitutional scholar to conclude that a nude search of a 13 year old child is an invasion of constitutional rights of some magnitude.` She continued- `More than that: it is a violation of any known principle of human dignity.`
In dissent, Judge Michael Daly Hawkins wrote- `I do not think it was unreasonable for school officials, acting in good faith, to conduct the search in an effort to obviate a potential threat to the health and safety of their students.`
During this session- the United States Supreme Court agreed to rule on this case before the end of its current term.