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Strip-Search Case Tests Limits of 4th Amendment
langelgjm writes "The US Supreme Court has agreed to review a case involving the strip-searching of a 13 year-old girl who was accused of possessing prescription-strength ibuprofen on school grounds, in violation of the school's zero-tolerance drug policy. The case has gained national attention because of the defining role it will play in determining which, if any, parts of the Constitution apply on school grounds. In Morse v. Frederick, the Supreme Court has already upheld the right of school administrators to restrict students' free speech at school-sponsored events that take place off school property. The school described the strip-search as 'not excessively intrusive in light of [the student's] age and sex and the nature of her suspected infraction.' The Supreme Court's last decision about searches on school property dealt only with searching a student's purse. Incidentally, the girl was found not to be in possession of any drugs, illegal or otherwise."
An assistant principal, enforcing the school's antidrug policies, suspected her of having brought prescription-strength ibuprofen pills to school. One of the pills is as strong as two Advils.
and
Judge Michael Daly Hawkins, dissenting, said the case was in some ways "a close call," given the "humiliation and degradation" involved. But, Judge Hawkins concluded, "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."
and
"Do we really want to encourage cases," Professor Arum asked, "where students and parents are seeking monetary damages against educators in such school-specific matters where reasonable people can disagree about what is appropriate under the circumstances?"
1.There is nothing reasonable or doubtful that thinking that two advils would do serious harm, or even minor harm to a 13 year old girl.
2. There is also nothing reasonable about strip searching a 13 year old girl who was minding her own business
3. There is nothing reasonable about strip searching a girl even if she did have a prescription for Ibuprofen
What is happening is that special interest groups are normalizing this aggressive and authoritarian policy and practice towards children (and adults as well, but that's another topic). They are continuing to normalize and escalate these nasty and unwarranted attitudes and behaviours.
This incident shows incredibly poor judgment, and suggests that the morons involved got way too caught up in their "no drugs in school" policy, but it does not, in any way, indicate a likelihood of the perpetrators seeking to abuse children for sexual pleasure.
Oh I don't know about that. I'm not saying rush to prosecute them for sexual abuse... But at the point at which they have the girl alone, stripped to her skivvies, and then demand that she spread her legs and pull her underwear away from her body so that they could look down her panties, I begin to suspect that one or both of those bitches were getting off on it.
I have a hard time believing even the stupidest of school officials -- and not for lack of good examples -- would really think that after failing to find pills anywhere else that they'd find them stashed down the front of her panties. I find it 100% impossible that even the stupidest of school official in the 2000s wouldn't have blazing red warning alarms going off in their head at the thought of forcing a minor to expose her genitals. That they were doing what in any other context outside a doctor's office would have resulted in them being arrested for sex crimes. They can't possibly have been unaware of that. Nor could they have been unaware that they were humiliating the poor girl, even though the nurse says she never appeared embarrassed. Yeah fucking right! I don't buy it for a second. Even if they aren't kiddie-pervs, power is the ultimate aphrodisiac, and these bitches sure lorded their power over the girl. Maybe making her expose herself was just their way of punishing her for thwarting them by not having drugs on her. I don't know, I just know that no normal person would think making the girl expose herself was a reasonable and entirely non-sexual execution of their duties.
Nor do I believe this was a unique case, because it was not an exceptional case. Someone accused someone else of having drugs, and the person didn't have an drugs in their locker, bags, or pockets, and there was no other reason to believe they had drugs but the accusation. Yeah bet that's never happened before.
Look, I don't know, I'm just saying this thing reeks to hell of something a lot worse than just poor judgement.
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