After six years, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that when school officials forced then 13-year-old Savana Redding to strip down to her underwear so they could search her underwear for suspected prescription drugs they violated her Fourth Amendment rights.
The two school officials (both women, by the way) insisted that a student told them Savana carried prescription strength drugs on her to school. The "prescription-strength drugs" they were referring to were prescription strength ibuprofen. In other words, these school officials were looking for some strong Advil.
Savana was told to strip down and shake out her underwear in search for the pills which were never found.
The Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 (Justice Clarence Thomas found the search legal) that Savana's right to privacy was compromised and further violated by having school officials strip her down without a permit or suspicion that the "drugs" were harmful or dangerous to the school.
While the district strongly prohibits prescription and over-the-counter drugs in school, isn't this going a little too far? What are you going to do next, take away the inhaler from the asthmatic kid? Or maybe forbid the diabetic kid from having his insulin?
Furthermore, could it be legal for school officials (not police with a warrant) to strip search ANY student for any reason?
(I might also remind people that a former colleague of Justice Thomas named Anita Hill testified that he sexually harassed her at work. Two other female colleagues made the same complaints.)
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