AZ- U.S. Supreme Court will hear strip-search appeal

1-22-2009 Arizona:

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear Safford School District's appeal of a federal appellate court's ruling that a 13-year-old student's constitutional rights were violated by a strip search for Ibuprofen in 2003.

Safford Middle School officials found no drugs in the clothing or other personal items of the student when the search was conducted Oct. 8, 2003.

Ibuprofen is a non-narcotic pain reliever sold in prescription and non-prescription doses. Brand names for the drug include Advil and Motrin.

The Supreme Court justices accepted the case Friday for review to determine if a campus setting gives school administrators the right to strip-search a student.

Arguments are expected to be heard in April, but no specific date was published in an article on CNN.com. Mark Tregaskes, superintendent of Safford School District, said he did not know the date when arguments will be heard.

"We're grateful that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case, and we'll respect that decision," Tregaskes said.

In a July 11, 2008, ruling, an 11-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Safford Middle School officials violated the Fourth Amendment rights of then-13-year-old Savana Redding when they forced her to strip to her underwear in search of prescription-strength Ibuprofen tablets.

The search was prompted after a classmate who had the tablets claimed she got them from Redding. After Redding denied possession of the medication, Middle School Vice Principal Kerry Wilson ordered the search by an administrative assistant and the school nurse — both women.

After removing her outer clothing, Redding was ordered to move her bra and panties in a way that exposed her breasts and pelvic area.

In the appellate court ruling, the judges wrote the search of Redding was "grossly intrusive."

This ruling came about nine months after a Sept. 21, 2007, ruling by the appellate court's three-judge panel that ruled in favor of the school district. The 2007 ruling upheld a federal district court's summary judgement that Wilson, the nurse and the administrative assistant did not violate the girl's Fourth Amendment rights. ..News Source.. by Diane Saunders, Staff Writer