Court says strip search of child illegal

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled by an 8-1 vote Thursday that the strip search of a middle-school girl for prescription-strength ibuprofen violated her privacy rights.

The decision in an Arizona case requires administrators nationwide to weigh more carefully how intrusively they search for drugs.

The majority opinion by Justice David Souter emphasized the great difference between a search of a student's backpack or outer clothing and a search that requires the removal of clothes.

The decision, which marks a departure from signals the justices sent during oral arguments in April, also breaks from a recent trend in decisions giving school administrators great latitude to search for drugs in schools.

A school official must have, Souter wrote, a "reasonable suspicion of danger" regarding the contraband sought and a belief that it could be in the student's underwear before making "the quantum leap from outer clothes and backpacks to exposure of intimate parts."

In October 2003, after obtaining an unverified tip from another student that eighth grader Savana Redding might have ibuprofen and finding none in her backpack, Safford Middle School assistant principal Kerry Wilson asked a school nurse and administration assistant to search Savana in the nurse's office. The two women had Savana take off her shoes and socks, then her shirt and pants. They then directed her to pull out her bra and pull open her panties to see if she was hiding any pills. None were found.

Savana's mother, April Redding, sued saying the Safford school district officials breached Savana's rights under the Fourth Amendment shield against unreasonable searches. A lower federal appeals court ruled for Redding and also said the Safford Unified School District was financially responsible for harm to her.

The school district's appeal was backed by the National Association of School Boards and other educators concerned about officials' ability to attack the scourge of drugs in schools.