Comments | jarien: Strip search of teen declared to be illegal

jarien

Strip search of teen declared to be illegal

Jun 25, 2009 11:35

When she was 13 years old, Savana Redding was strip-searched by school officials who suspected she had a few tablets of ibuprofen on her person. The suspicion that she had an equivalent to 2 tablets of Advil hidden somewhere led school officials to strip-search her in order to prove that they held a no-tolerance policy to drugs on school grounds.

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rant

Comments 5

purpura June 25 2009, 17:58:14 UTC

I am so happy about the decision ( and Clarence Thomas can suck it). I am raising an 11 year old, a 15 year old babysits my son... Who's to say this couldn't have happened to them?

What really killed me were the earlier articles where the school officials were blaming the victim with comments like "She wasn't upset when it happened" or (in reference as to why her good record was not taken into account) "The only students who don't have records are ones who haven't been caught yet."

I think everyone who participated in this should be fired.

jarien June 25 2009, 18:14:04 UTC

I die a little inside every time I hear a "blame the victim" or "defame the victim" comment. *sigh*

I was disappointed that while it was ruled to be illegal, the ruling also deemed that none of the administrators could be held liable in a monetary sense (as in, no suing them civilly for damages). That irritates me to no end. They didn't get fired, they can't be sued -- but they did something illegal? So what's going to happen to them now? Nothing?

Rawr for the legal system sometimes.

sistahraven June 25 2009, 18:16:47 UTC

In my school, the occasional strip search happened - conducted by the police, *at the police station*, with the parents notified. I was HORRIFIED to find out that schools were doing this without parental or police notification. You know what taking a child's clothes off is, without police or parental notification? It's fucking illegal search and seizure, and it's sexual assault in a majority of states. I wonder how those school officials would feel to find out their nanny stripped their kids because she thought they took something of hers.

Anyone strip searching Boo would have hell to pay.

jarien June 25 2009, 18:20:13 UTC

Exactly. With parental presence or police presence? That's at least observing the legalities (assuming the police conduct themselves according to law, but they're usually decent about that somtimes ish). Minor children can't give consent, and school officials can't give consent for them, or there wouldn't be all these permission slips to sign.

The No Stick should be applied more liberally in these cases, I think. And if anyone did that to Boo, I can bet you'd be hefting it to school with you. :)

sistahraven June 25 2009, 18:49:04 UTC

Oh yeah. Someone did this to Boo, and they'd have about a hundred people up their ass in every way possible. Lawsuits would be filed, charges would be pressed, and they'd have me to answer to at the head of a long line of people who would make their life hell. Yah. :;coughs:: No, not Bear at all.