Education Law

Strip search opinion lacks a clear standard

Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a decision that will impact how school administrators proceed when they believe that students may possess harmful drugs in violation of school policy. BoardBuzz previously covered this case in April during our discussion of the Washington Post?s article that wisely recognized the Court?s need to ?weigh the rights of students against the duty of school officials to protect safety.?  The Court, in its 8-1 decision in Safford v. Redding, ruled that a strip search of a student at Safford Middle School violated her Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights, but held that the school officials were entitled to qualified immunity from the lawsuit. While BoardBuzz is pleased that the school officials were relieved of personal liability in this case, we are concerned that the Court may have set an ambiguous precedent.

The Safford officials, based on a suspicion that Savana Redding was distributing prescription drugs to other students, searched her backpack and outer clothing for the pills. After that search yielded nothing, the principal took Savanna to the nurses? office, where a search of her undergarments was performed. The court found that this course of action was unreasonable under the Court?s previous decision in New Jersey v. T.L.O. What was missing, Justice Souter wrote in his majority opinion, ?was any indication of danger to the students from the power of the drugs or their quantity, and any reason to suppose that Savana was carrying pills in her underwear.?

NSBA’s General Counsel Francisco Negron says that the majority’s opinion sets a standard that may be hard for school officials to apply. ?The home medicine cabinet now poses a serious threat to students, who may take those medications for abusive purposes,? he pointed out in an article on CNN.com.  Despite this reality, the Court?s decision offers little guidance for schools as to what drugs in what quantities are dangerous enough to permit a strip search.  ”I think there will be more litigation,” Negron said in a Washington Post article about the decision.  For now, principals who seek ensure that students are not hiding drugs on their person must chose between protecting the health and safety of their students or protecting his school from a costly potential lawsuit.

?Justice Thomas in his dissent, warns us that students will now know where to hide their contraband,” Negron pointed out in an editorial in USA Today.  Let us hope that his words are not a sign of things to come.”

“In the meantime,” he concluded, “schools will do what they need to do to keep children safe.”

For more information on NSBA’s perspectives on the Safford decision, check out this official statement.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on June 26, 2009 (boomark / email).