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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).

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School Strip Search Case Headed for En Banc Rehearing
Redding v. Safford Unified School District #1, 05-15759 (9th Cir., Jan. 31, 2008) Remember this appeal from last September? Thirteen-year-old Savana Redding, an honor roll student with no prior disciplinary problems, was required to strip, exposing her breasts and pubic area, in a fruitless search for ? at worst ? prescription strength ibuprofen...

Its Now Official: Its Not OK to Strip-Search a 13-Year-Old Girl for Ibuprofen
There was a lot of law blog coverage when a Ninth Circuit panel held that�a strip search that required�13-year-old�Savana Redding�to expose her breasts and pubic region during a search for Ibuprofen did not violate her Fourth Amendment rights...

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"Appeals court reinstates girl's strip-search case; 9th Circuit judges reinstate two other rulings in the case of Savana Redding, 13, who was searched for ibuprofen at school": Maura Dolan has this article today in The Los Angeles Times...

11th Enc Banc Opinion Reverses District Court Which Upheld Strip Search of 13 year Old
Redding v. Stafford Unified School Dist., ___F.3d___(9th Cir. (enc banc) is an important cases addressing the right of school officials to strip search students. The decision is 75 pages long and the decision is divided...

Update: Rehearing granted in case of strip-searched honor student
As reported here in September, Judge Richard Clifton of Hawai`i (an appointee of President George W. Bush) wrote a majority opinion for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluding that it wasn't unconstitutional for authorities to strip-search a 13-year-old girl suspected of possessing ibuprofen...

CA9 (en banc): School strip search for ibuprofen clearly violated the Fourth Amendment so no qualified immunity
School strip search for ibuprofen clearly violated the Fourth Amendment. Therefore, there was no qualified immunity. Redding v. Safford, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 14756 (9th Cir. July 11, 2008) (en banc, 6-5): On the basis of an uncorroborated tip from the culpable eighth grader, public middle school officials searched futilely for prescription-strength ibuprofen by strip-searching thirteen-year-old honor student Savana Redding...

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