Supreme Court rules strip search of teen unconstitutional.
It's sad that these things have to be spelled out by the Court, but making a 13-year-old strip to her underwear and shake out her bra and panties to prove she isn't carrying Tylenol is excessive. What is wrong with these people?
From the Volokh Conspiracy:
The combination of drug hysteria and the tyrrany of petty government officials is rarely a pretty sight. Unfortunately, the Court also held that no monetary damages could be awarded against Wilson and other school officials.
(FWIW, I'm not a Fourth Amendment expert, but as a matter of policy I would never let school officials strip search a child. If the incident is serious enough to merit police attention, say because school officials think the student is distributing heroin, call the police (who, among other things, have some training in probable cause and restrictions on searching without a warrant) and let them handle it. If the incident involves, say, possession of ibuprofen, which is neither illegal nor dangerous but only against school policy, handle it some other way.)
I wish the girl's parents could sue the pants (pun intended) off the school district. We have enough stupidity in the schools without this stuff.
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