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Education Law

: Edjurist

The 9th Circuit Rehearing Redding v. Stafford (13 Year Old Strip Search Case): Congrats Savana

By Justin Bathon

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I was sort of happy to see Mark Walsh's scoop at the School Law Blog that the 9th Circuit has decided to rehear the Redding v. Stafford decision en banc (as a full court - or at least more - instead of just 3 judges, essentially setting aside the 3 judge's decision). The Edjurist sort of has a personal interest in this case. I disagreed with the 3 judge panel's decision initially when they ruled that strip searching the 13 year old Redding was constitutional (read the facts here). Later, Sarah Redding herself (the student that was searched) posted a comment on the blog post thanking me and directed us to her compelling editorial in the Eastern Arizona Courier.

At the time I had this to say about the case:

How can a strip search of a 13 year old be considered reasonable in scope when searching for Ibuprofen? Sure, having and passing out prescription drugs is wrong and the search of the backpack was fine. But was it necessary to strip search her? How about searching her locker first or calling her parent ... or calling the cops? Any of these methods would have been more reasonable in scope and likely more productive in obtaining any illegal drugs and/or reprimanding the offending student. I personally feel this is clearly outside the bounds of the Constitution and even further outside the bounds of common sense.

Well, congratulations Savana. It is not a win yet, but I think their decision to rehear the case bodes well for you. If nothing else, it shows the delicacy of this issue of strip searching young students. It should only be used, if at all, as a last resort and only in the most dire of circumstances (weapons, perhaps). Ibuprofen, the equivalent of 2 over the counter Advils, hardly qualifies as a dire circumstance to stretch the bounds of the Constitution this far.

Full post as published by Edjurist on February 01, 2008 (boomark / email).