High School Strip Search Case goes to Supreme Court

[tw]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

Something needs to be done about drugs in school. So it turned out to be nothing this time, but how bout next time when they do find cocain or heroin?

I just told my local police that you have kiddy porn. Your police will arrest you, take your family away, strip search you looking for porn in body cavities, and ... well something must be done about kiddy porn. Meanwhile, reality:

Originally Posted by richlevy

... a girl with no prior record was strip searched based on hearsay from a fellow student. The drug in question was ibuprofin.

She was a kid. Therefore she must be hiding drug in her cunt? After all, something must be done about humans taking ibuprofen. We must protect the Tylenol industry?

There's got to be more to this story to get to the Supreme Court.

[xoxoxoBruce]

"How is a school administrator supposed to know?" Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked. "He sees a white pill and doesn't know if it is something terribly harmful, even deadly, or if it's prescription-strength ibuprofen."

If he saw the pill he should know what it was, but from what I've read he saw nothing and was working on hearsay.

She won last year before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that the strip-search of an eighth-grader was unreasonable and unconstitutional and said that school officials who ordered the search were liable for damages.

That's how it got to the Supremes.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

If he saw the pill he should know what it was, but from what I've read he saw nothing and was working on hearsay.

I was wrong according to the article I read today. The principal actually did see the pills and knew the were ibuprofen before the hearsay that they belonged to this girl.
So he ordered the strip search actually knowing it was ibuprofen, not an illegal substance. Stone the fucker.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Stone the fucker.

Yup. Right. Forking. Now.

Just thought of something - Is he still working? working there?
Damn, just damn.

[Razzmatazz13]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

I was wrong according to the article I read today. The principal actually did see the pills and knew the were ibuprofen before the hearsay that they belonged to this girl.
So he ordered the strip search actually knowing it was ibuprofen, not an illegal substance. Stone the fucker.

In school, drugs are drugs. You can't have legal or illegal drugs on your person. You get the same punishment for either. I got in trouble in elementary school once because my mom gave me one of those lollipops that help sore throats before I left. I always got to school long before class started, so I was finishing it in the hallway and a teacher told me to get rid of the candy. I told her what it was and she informed me that I needed to throw it away immediately and not bring any in ever again. Luckily for me, that teacher knew me very well...otherwise I'm sure I'd have a record for substance abuse or something at this point.

It was a common joke among us friends in the marching band that we had to hide our band bag (the backpack which holds anything and everything) because it had ibuprofen, midol, and excedrine for when we needed them.


Actually, in our school you're not allowed to carry water bottles either. It's worth detention I think? We all used to do it anyway. Supposedly kids used to put vodka in the bottles or other clear alcohols...and "teachers can't tell the difference". We decided it was worth the risk. Anyone wanted to tell me I was breaking a law, and they could test any part of me or the water bottle that they would like...they weren't going to find anything, and I was tired of passing out from heat exhaustion in class because some stupid teacher got her jollies off by refusing me a bathroom/water fountain break.

Similarly sick of going to the nurse and being told she only had baby tylenol to give me for a migrane...no thanks I'll hide some excedrine in my purse.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Razzmatazz13

In school, drugs are drugs. You can't have legal or illegal drugs on your person. You get the same punishment for either.

I realize that, but once he was sure it was ibuprofen and not acid or smack, it hardly calls for a strip search based on hearsay. There was no impetus not to wait for the police or parents to be involved. Flail 'em.

[Aliantha]

Originally Posted by tw

I just told my local police that you have kiddy porn. Your police will arrest you, take your family away, strip search you looking for porn in body cavities, and ... well something must be done about kiddy porn.

They can do whatever they like looking for whatever illegal contraband they might think I have. I have nothing to hide.

[Alluvial]

It strikes me that the authority of the school should be for educational matters, not police matters. If the vice principal was concerned that the girl was carrying something illegal, he should have involved the police.

I was surprised to find out that "innocent until proven guilty" does not apply to minors WRT drug crimes. One kid can claim another was using drugs and the first kid can be arrested based on that. I found that out a few years ago.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

They can do whatever they like looking for whatever illegal contraband they might think I have. I have nothing to hide.

Out of interest, have you ever had your house searched by the police?


One of my closest friends was busted by the police (drug squad) on the basis of a 'malicious informant'. They found nothing; there was nothing to find. But they seriously broke the fuck out of his door. And they threw his things about with total disregard. Dragged out his drawers, emptied shit onto the floor. Went through his dirty laundry basket. Pulled the backs off his speakers (common place to hide stuff), went through the bins outside, everywhere, looking for evidence of cultivation or possession.

He wasn't in at the time. He arrived back at his house to find them just finished. They gave him a form to sign and apologised for the inconvenience and off they went. Having ransacked his house, busted the door, dismantled his speakers, rifled through his personal possessions and thrown his stuff on the floor. Having nothing to hide doesn't in any way protect you from having your privacy violated. An enforced search is an enforced search. It happens without warning, and for those who are searched it's often quite a shocking experience.

In theory, there needs to be more than one thing pointing to a suspect for a search to go ahead; but my friend had the (mis)fortune to live on a block where people had been known to grow. His address was the second factor.

[jinx]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Out of interest, have you ever had your house searched by the police?

I don't know about the rest of them, but a cop I know enjoys this aspect of his job immensely. It's a big joke (about the state he'll leave it in) whenever someone sends him in the house to look for something.

[Aliantha]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Out of interest, have you ever had your house searched by the police?

No, but I've had the house trashed by thieves. I don't think there's a whole lot of difference.

I was once reported for living in a defacto relationship (with Daryl) while getting student allowance and other benefits, by some anonymous person. This was a big problem because at the time I wasn't actually living with Daryl, and our relationship wasn't such that I could ask him to help financially while it was sorted out. Never the less, the authorities took the word of some 'informant' over mine for a period of time.

While it was a problem for me, ultimately I am not complaining because so many people actually do rort the system and need to be disconnected.

This goes to my belief that in some circumstances it's better to be safe than sorry.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

I have nothing to hide.

So why are people required to wear clothes? What is this nothing you have to hide?

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by tw

So why are people required to wear clothes? What is this nothing you have to hide?

oh god, oh, god - do NOT answer this....oh god, oh god.....

[Spexxvet]

Wait until it comes out that the strip searcher is a lesbian pedophile!

[Aliantha]

Originally Posted by tw

So why are people required to wear clothes? What is this nothing you have to hide?

People wear clothes to keep the weather out tw. Modesty was just a side effect of that need.