13 Year-Old-Girl Strip Searched

A 13-year-old Arizona girl who was strip-searched by school officials looking for ibuprofen pain reliever will have her case heard at the Supreme Court. The justices accepted the case Friday for review. They will decide whether a campus setting gives school administrators greater discretion to control students suspected of illegal activity than police are allowed in cases involving adults in public spaces. At issue is whether school administrators are constitutionally barred from conducting searches of students investigated for possessing or dealing drugs that are banned on campus.

A federal appeals court found the search "traumatizing" and illegal.

Some parents say older children deserve the same constitutional rights as adults, but educators counter that a school setting always has been treated differently by the courts. They say a ruling against them could jeopardize campus safety.

The case involves Savana Redding, who in 2003 was an eighth-grade honor student at Safford Middle School, about 127 miles from Tucson, Arizona. Earlier that day the vice principal had discovered prescription-strength ibuprofen pills in the possession of one of Redding's classmates. That student, facing punishment, accused Redding of providing her with the 400-milligram pills.

The school has a zero-tolerance policy for all prescription and over-the-counter medication, including the ibuprofen, without prior written permission.

Redding was pulled from class by a male vice principal, Kerry Wilson, escorted to an office and confronted with the evidence. She denied the accusations.

A search of Redding's backpack found nothing. Then, although she had never had prior disciplinary problems, a strip-search was conducted with the help of a school nurse and Wilson's assistant, both females. According to court records, she was ordered to strip to her underwear and her bra was pulled out. Again, no drugs were found.

In an affidavit, Redding said, "The strip-search was the most humiliating experience I have ever had. I held my head down so that they could not see that I was about to cry."

With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, Redding and her family sued, and a federal appeals court in San Francisco, California, ruled against the school.

The court wrote: "Common sense informs us that directing a 13-year-old girl to remove her clothes, partially revealing her breasts and pelvic area, for allegedly possessing ibuprofen ... was excessively intrusive."

The court said the school went too far in its effort to create a drug- and crime-free classroom. "The overzealousness of school administrators in efforts to protect students has the tragic impact of traumatizing those they claim to serve. And all this to find prescription-strength ibuprofen."

In its appeal to the high court, the school district said requiring a legal standard of "probable cause" to conduct student searches would cast a "roadblock to the kind of swift and effective response that is too often needed to protect the very safety of students, particularly from the threats posed by drugs and weapons."

The high court has had a mixed record over the years on students' rights. The court could now be asked to clarify the extent of student rights involving searches, and the discretion of officials over those for whom they have responsibility.

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Can you imagine being strip searched at the age of 13? Being accused of "Dealing Drugs" AT THE AGE OF 13. Personally if I was in the supreme court I would be SURE that the Principle that aloud this to be charge with child molestation, and the people who conducted the search to be sentenced. Now for the rest of this girl's life, she will feel violated for being accused of dealing drugs.

Post your statements.

 

That wasn't right to do so she is 13 for godsake.

 

That's fucked up? But if it's school officials, what could she do?

 

At the age of 13, I think you have a right as a citizen of the United States to say no... Or to hold it off until your parent's get there.

 

I don't i got searched because they thought i had a gun on me, i'd rather them search me then call my parents...

 

Get you naked at the age of 13 instead of calling your parent's?

 

Thats sad..
Theres nothing use youth can do to win a fight with teachers.
POWER HUNGRY

 

Yes- i'd rather do that. But you're right she should of had the choice, i agree it's messed up, but if there officials, they would search her either way if her parents were there or not....

 

Ummmm, that school is fucked up. If its a public school, it should lose a shit load of federal funding and the who ever allowed that to happen should be removed... >.<

 

If they did, and you said you wanted to wait for your parent's, right now they would be sitting in a cell awaiting their trial.

 

Rofl, 400mg advils. That's fucking nothing. If she had vicodin or any other opiod that would be reason to search her but ffs ibuprofen? LOL.

 

It shouldn't matter if the girl had a pound of marijuana on her, they have no right to strip search her without her parent's there.

 

that is wrong i hope they sue and win, she probably ganna get famous later ^^

 

We will see her on the E! Channel under something like "15 Most Unbelievable Events"

 

Dont forget that this is also the fault of the girl who falsely accused/betrayed her.

 

Lol I live in arizona

 

Intriguing.

 

Trying to get that 7,000 post? :love:

Yes, If I was the mother of this girl, I would have already killed the girl who did this to my daughter.

Fantastic.

 

That's bullshit, thats so cruel to do that to a 13 year old that had no previous record of breaking any rules. If she was one of those whores that were always in trouble, always got caught selling drugs etc then i wouldn't give a shit though.

 

Disgusting.

Even if they thought she had narcotics they should have waited until the parents got there. Who gives them the right to search a 13 year old girl? Most probably they were just perverts... I hope she wins the case and something is done to these "officials"