WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court today heard oral arguments over whether school officials violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old Arizona girl when they strip searched her based on a classmate's uncorroborated accusation that she previously possessed ibuprofen. The American Civil Liberties Union represents April Redding, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, whose daughter, Savana Redding, was strip searched by Safford Middle School officials six years ago.
"At stake here are the fundamental privacy rights of America's students – when is a strip search of a child justified," said Adam Wolf, an attorney with the ACLU who argued the case before the Court today. "The Constitution must shield students like Savana from suffering potentially lifelong harm due the senseless overreaction of school officials."
Savana Redding, an eighth grade honor roll student at Safford Middle School
in Safford, Arizona, was pulled from class on October 8, 2003 by the school's
vice principal, Kerry Wilson. Earlier that day, Wilson had discovered
prescription-strength ibuprofen – 400 milligram pills equivalent to two
over-the-counter ibuprofen pills, such as Advil – in the possession of Redding's
classmate. Under questioning and faced with punishment, the classmate claimed
that Redding, who had no history of disciplinary problems, had given her the
pills.
After escorting Redding to his office, Wilson demanded that
she consent to a search of her possessions. Redding agreed, wanting to
prove she had nothing to hide. Wilson did not inform Redding of the reason
for the search. Joined by a female school administrative assistant, Wilson
searched Redding's backpack and found nothing. Instructed by Wilson, the
administrative assistant then took Redding to the school nurse's office in order
to perform a strip search.
In the school nurse's office, Redding was ordered to strip to her underwear. She was then commanded to pull her bra out and to the side, exposing her breasts, and to pull her underwear out at the crotch, exposing her pelvic area. The strip search failed to uncover any ibuprofen pills.
"The strip search was the most humiliating experience I have ever had," said Redding in a sworn affidavit following the incident. "I held my head down so that they could not see that I was about to cry."
The strip search was undertaken based solely on the uncorroborated claims of the classmate facing punishment. No attempt was made to corroborate the classmate's accusations among other students or teachers. No physical evidence suggested that Redding might be in possession of ibuprofen pills or that she was concealing them in her undergarments.
Furthermore, the classmate had not claimed that Redding currently possessed any pills, nor had the classmate given any indication as to where they might be concealed. No attempt was made to contact Redding's parents prior to conducting the strip search.
"To this day, I do not understand why I was strip searched, and not a day goes by that I don't think about it," said Redding prior to today's argument. "No one should have to go through this. It should be against the law."
The case, Safford Unified School District v. Redding, was appealed from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which found the strip search to be unconstitutional. A six-judge majority of the appeals court further held that, since the strip search was clearly unreasonable, the school official who ordered the search is not entitled to immunity.
"Strip searching a 13-year-old girl is not the same as looking in her backpack," said Steven R. Shapiro, the ACLU's national Legal Director. "Neither the Constitution nor common sense permits school officials to treat them as the same."
The ACLU and ACLU of Arizona are joined in the proceedings by Bruce Macdonald, with the law firm McNamara, Goldsmith, Jackson & Macdonald, and Andrew Petersen, with the firm Humphrey & Petersen.
In addition, a broad constellation of adolescent health experts and privacy rights advocates filed friend-of-the-court briefs in support of Redding, including the National Education Association, National Association of Social Workers (NASW), CATO Institute, Rutherford Institute, Goldwater Institute, and Urban Justice Center, among others.
NASW's brief documents that strip searches can have a devastating emotional impact on students, deeply and irrevocably affecting the victims' relationship with their peers and school officials.
The ACLU's brief in the case is available online at: www.aclu.org/scotus/2008term/saffordunifiedschooldistrictv.redding/39160lgl20090325.html