Politics | 06/25/2009 4:00 pm

Savana Redding Strip Search at Age 13 Was Illegal, Supreme Court Says

In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the strip search of the 13-year-old Arizona student violated the Fourth Amendment

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that school officials violated the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches when a 13-year-old student was ordered to remove her undergarments.

Justice David Souter, who is retiring this summer, wrote the court’s opinion, which basically said that the assistant principal, who ordered the search of Savana Redding, isn’t liable for the violation; however, he left open the possibility that the Safford, AZ, school district could be liable.

In 2003, a classmate accused Redding of carrying ibuprofen pills. Redding was called into a private room where a school nurse and female secretary performed a strip search, in which they asked Redding to pull her underwear and bra aside to expose her private parts. No pills were found. Redding was left feeling embarrassed, violated and ostracized. The school argued that they had the right to take cautionary measures in order to ensure the safety of their students.

Savana’s mother sued the school system, claiming her daughter’s Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches or seizures had been violated. A trial court and a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sided with the school. On a re-hearing, the full Ninth Circuit overturned the 2007 decision and insisted officials were not immune from her suit. The school district appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.

Justice Clarence Thomas was today’s minority vote and favored with the school’s right to protect students from drugs.

Click here to read more about the Supreme Court ruling online at The Wall Street Journal.

30 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Yes it was. Finally SCOTUS did something right—first time in a long while.

By f p on 06/25/2009 4:30 pm

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I realize that schools have their hands full with kids and drugs and weapons. I once read that teaching was as stressful as being an air traffic controller. I believe it. But there must be an alternate and saner way to determine whether a 13 year old is in possesion other than having her strip at school. Not only is it unreasonable, but of course this very young girl felt humiliated and violated. Has common sense and decency escaped this school district? Is there any reason this child could not have stepped behind the clinic’s curtain to remove her undergarments?

There is much concern in school districts, and rightfully so, about bullying behavior. That concern is heightened when adults are able to get away with it.

This is the case in which Supreme Court Judge Ginsberg remarked that she was the only one who understood what it felt like to be a 13 year old girl. Enough said.

By Maggie W on 06/25/2009 4:36 pm

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Maggie,

Teaching is as stressful as being an air traffic controller??? Tell me you’re kidding.

Whoever wrote that piece hasn’t a clue what being an air traffic controller includes. It was printed in a publication called Health magazine. The only thing it proves is that teachers haven’t learned how to manage stress.

http://elementaryteacher.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/inner-city-teaching-more-stressful-than-air-traffic-controlling/

The article has been removed from Health magazine.

By Andrea Brandon on 06/25/2009 11:48 pm

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If you are one of those teachers who has had her car keyed or tires slashed or assaulted in class, then I would say that… yes.. that is stressful. If you are a teacher who is harrassed with abusive midnight telephone calls, that might be stressful. If you were the teacher in Arkansas who arrived early at 6:00 AM to get a head start on the day and was raped by a former student, I’d assume that was more than stressful. So, you tell me, Andrea, since you are such an expert. How would a teacher learn to "manage that kind of stress"? What type of classes should she take?

By Maggie W on 06/26/2009 10:04 am

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Maggie W,

Don’t go off on a tangent. I never said that teachers don’t have stressful jobs. And I never said that all stressors could be prevented.

Teachers’ stress is no where near the level of stress experienced by an air traffic controller. I measure this on the basis of the dramatic fatal outcome that could result based on one wrong move by the teacher/ATC.

While the stress as a result of being raped would be huge, the stress experienced by an ATC whose plane has crashed with all 200+ people on board is equal if not more stressful. I don’t want you to think that I believe rape is a walk in the park. I absolutely don’t. But the stats show that women who were raped have a better chance of psychological recovery than and ATC whose plane bought the farm.

Incidentally, if she hasn’t yet, the teacher who was raped should, in addition to seeking psychotherapy for rape victims, be taking a self defense class. That by itself will give her a tool to protect herself. Hopefully she will never again be in that situation. Maybe it should be a prerequisite to obtaining one’s teaching certificate to take a self defense class.

I was amazed to find a number of teachers raped by 15 and 16 year old kids here and in the UK.

By Andrea Brandon on 06/26/2009 4:30 pm

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More proof that we need more women on the SC.

By DeBúrca obj on 06/26/2009 8:07 am

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The article really touches all bases. If this girl needed this drug for a medical condition, the parents should have notified the school and all this might have been prevented.

By Judy K. on 06/25/2009 4:54 pm

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As a parent, I applaud the efforts that schools are taking to minimize drugs in school, but this went too far. From other articles I’ve read, the girl was kept waiting 4 hours before the strip-search was ordered. Why weren’t her parents called during that time? Why not send her home? There were many other options for this school to take but they chose to humiliate, yes, humiliate this girl and attempt to shame her. I am amazed it took SCOTUS for the school and everyone else involved to see what a travesty of justice this was. Shame on them! And shame on Justice Thomas to think that didn’t violate her (rights)!

By Margie Goforth on 06/25/2009 5:08 pm

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They strip-searched her for an OTC headache medicine??? What did they think she was going to do with it - sell it on the street? My 6-year-old could buy this stuff at Target!

The kid probably had cramps - and they criminalized her for it. Un-frickin-believable. And they took it to the Supreme Court. Forget suing - someone ought to get slapped.

By Lisa DiLiberti on 06/25/2009 5:46 pm

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And these idiot school officials did this looking for ibuprofen? Even if they thought she had heroin on her, this was obviously not the right thing to do. It’s pretty sad to see how far gone common sense is these days.

Too bad the officials in this case retain their immunity, even though their actions have been judged unreasonable.

By Lila Kuh on 06/25/2009 5:46 pm

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If this would have happened to one of my daughters, I would have sued too…..the mother should have been called to the school immediately and the 13 year old girl should not have been touched until the mother was there to give approval and to be in the room with her….and I don’t know as a mother if I would have even approved of anyone doing this but myself and only if I doubted my daughter was not being truthful….otherwise we would have left the building!

By Libra Lady on 06/25/2009 6:21 pm