Bishop to Boycott Obama Commencement Speech
South Bend is heating up over the controversy surrounding Obama and the local bishop...Read the post2009 College Grads: We're the Lucky Ones
Why there is hope for the graduating Class of 2009, and how they can find work in a recession...Read the postBeer in Vending Machines -- What Drinking Age?
U.S. policies on drinking age seem restrictive when examining the rest of the world...Read the postHow The Press Can Remain Relevant
Is it any surprise that Obama has employed a strategy to cordon journalists that is similar to previous administrations?...Read the postBe Afraid, Cheney Warns. Be Very Afraid.
Just when you thought the Bush-era warnings of Armageddon around the corner were over, Cheney strikes again...Read the postObama: You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry...
Obama threw down his stick, spat on the floor and growled in the face of cameras -- metaphorically... Read the postObama to GOP: 'I Won, I'm The President'
"You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," Obama told GOP leaders...Read the postPalin Seeks $11M Book Deal, but Can She Read?
One can only imagine what Republican rising star Sarah Palin could possibly write about in her memoirs...Read the post
washington university
national news
Supreme Court Explores High School Searches, Personal Drama
Sam Guzik is now a contributor for The Cram, a student news arm of the newly launched PoliticsDaily.com. To follow his future work, click here.
The Supreme Court is one of the United States's most venerable institutions, packed with nine of the nation's best legal minds, so it makes sense that they might be a little too busy to keep up with popular culture. Comments during the oral arguments in a case earlier this week, though, take out of touch to a new level.
Safford Unified School District v. Redding, heard by the court on Tuesday, asks the justices to weigh in on the constitutionality of strip searching students in schools when administrators have received a tip about hidden contraband but no location-specific information. While sorting through the complex fourth amendment issues, Justices found themselves transported back to their own time in school.
Take Justice Breyer, who wondered how the strip search was any different than what he had to endure while being forced to change for gym class and, less relevantly, while being teased by fellow students.
"In my experience when I was 8 or 10 or 12 years old, you know, we did take our clothes off once a day, we changed for gym, OK? And in my experience, too, people did sometimes stick things in my underwear," said Breyer while trying to point out that it might not be unusual for children to hide things from teachers in their underwear. As the court broke out into laughter, Breyer quickly added, "Or not my underwear. Whatever. Whatever."
Putting aside the troublesome assumption that forcing students to change for gym is analogous with forcing a 13-year-old girl to expose her breasts and pelvic region to school administrators, Justice Breyer's anecdote should be enough to start shaking your head at the Court.
Justice Scalia was surprised to learn that students sometimes sniff markers to get high when he asked why the school was attempting to confiscate them from students. "They sniff them?" Scalia said. "That's what kids do, your honor, unfortunately," said Matthew Wright, the representative for the petitioners. "Really?" Scalia responded.
The Court is expected to find against Savana Redding, now 19 (pictured at right), when it rules on the case in June based on the precedent of several other cases that establish a lower standard for administration searches of schools. During the oral arguments, only Justice Ginsberg--coincidentally the only woman on the court--seemed shocked by the situation, observing the differences between Justice Breyer's experience in the men's locker room and Redding's search.
"It wasn't just that they were stripped to their underwear! They were asked to shake their bra out, to stretch the top of their pants and shake that out!" she said.
According to USA Today, The National Association of Social Workers - joined by the National Education Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children - sides with Redding in a court filing. "Social science research demonstrates that strip searches can traumatize children and adolescents and result in serious emotional damage," they say, citing studies in educational and legal journals.
After the strip search, Savana never returned to Safford Middle School. She transferred to other schools but never obtained her high school degree. She is currently taking classes at a community college and working to prepare for her GED.Join The Discussion
Categories
Most Popular Stories »
- Nintendo DSi:
- New football uniform now on display in bookstore
- Cyclist assaulted, injured by driver
- Lambert cover controversy
- Are We Having A Laugh?
Recent Comments »
Page 1/2
Post Your Comments Below
| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments
Tom
3:36PM 3:36PM Apr 24th 2009
Nine of the best legal minds? WHere the He** did you get that idea? You know what a judge is, don't you? A not particularly good judge who knew a governer (or in this case, a President). Nine of the biggest egos is more like it.
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
Bill Black
1:15AM 1:15AM Apr 25th 2009
Girls take pictures of their breasts and pelvic regions and send them to their boyfriends.
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
Simzee
3:54AM 3:54AM Apr 25th 2009
Bill Black....Maybe YOU should be stripped & searched every time YOU go to work. Besides, I'd bet you'd make a good bytch.
Rating :
Report!
dearpru
6:51PM 6:51PM Apr 30th 2009
Cell phones weren't even around on campuses when this girl was strip-searched. She was an honor student who should have been treated with respect instead of suspicion. You are condemning all young girls with a frivolous statement like the one you make above. And I cannot help but think that if this is how you paint all young girls, you must be some kind of perv.
Rating :
Report!
Simzee
4:00AM 4:00AM Apr 25th 2009
Bill Black....Maybe YOU need to be stripped & searched every time you go to work. For all we know...you probably are a bytch. lol
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
Bill Black
11:47PM 11:47PM Apr 30th 2009
We could all learn a lot from crayons.
Some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, all have different colors but they all live in the same box.
Have a nice day
Rating :
Report!
George Jetson
10:14AM 10:14AM Apr 25th 2009
I have a daughter in Jr High and one in upper elementary school. If school officials decided to strip search either one of them based on the evidence they had, (or search them at all) the justices would have to decide on the Constitutionality of surgically removing my foot from the school administrators rear end.
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
ashby moncure m.d.
12:17PM 12:17PM Apr 25th 2009
It is time for americans to take back their rights to freedom and liberty.I put all on notice-If any one at a school that my child attends tries to strip search or apply corporal punishment, I will shoot to kill.
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
ashby moncure m.d.
12:20PM 12:20PM Apr 25th 2009
I am putting all on notice-it is time for Americans to take back their rights to freedom and liberty. If any school teacher or administrator attempts to strip search or apply corporal punishment to my child-I will shoot to kill.
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
Master Shake
9:18AM 9:18AM Apr 26th 2009
Two words: HOME SCHOOLING. American public schools are for LOSERS.
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
Hank
7:19AM 7:19AM Apr 27th 2009
Shooting is not the answer, but voting for a president who believes in the fourth amendment does. The president will then appoint supreme court justices with like views. That is how you get your rights back. It also works at the state level by voting in those governors who will appoint judges and justices that will keep your 4th amendment rights. Too often though people forget that it is the Democratic party that supports your rights under the Constitution. Thus, to get your rights back you will have to vote democratic until you have like minded judges and justices on the bench to overrule these bad laws put in place by the Republicans. I state this as a licensed attorney-at-law. Voting for your rights will get your rights back, but it will take some time and will power.
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
pridepiper
12:48PM 12:48PM Apr 29th 2009
Democrats are currently trying very hard to take away all kinds of freedoms!!!! Over-taxing and government run health care is going to make us ALL slaves to the state. Wake up! Neither party is even remotely interested in your personal freedom, the American dream is dead, and you are a fool!
Rating :
Report!
Common Sense
12:54PM 12:54PM Apr 30th 2009
Stephen Breyer is a Democrat, and arguably the most liberal member of the Court. If you were a real lawyer, you'd know that.
Rating :
Report!
Monty
4:56PM 4:56PM Apr 27th 2009
Hank, neither the Dems. or Reps. support our rights under the constitution. The two headed one party system has been eroding our rights for decades. If we want our rights back we need to not vote for either major party at all. Libertarians and a few other small groups are the only ones who seem to understand the idea of constitutionally protected rights and constitutionally limited government. The Federal Government is destroying our country and the people either don't know or don't care.
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
Wil
8:19PM 8:19PM Apr 27th 2009
Monty,you're right on.Both parties are full of professional politicians.Forget the people,as long as we stay in this mess they stay in power.I was an independent,but recently joined the New Federalist party.It's high time to give another party a chance.
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
mrsvonii
2:01PM 2:01PM Apr 28th 2009
I can't believe this can be allowed under our constitution.
This particular case is extra offensive because ( as reported in the Arizona Republic) the administrators strip searched the girl but weren't concerned enough to search her desk or locker. It sounds to me like they wanted to humiliate and punish her. They did the job she didn't even finish high school!!
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
Brad Herman
11:41PM 11:41PM Apr 28th 2009
I am a father of a 6 year old. If any administrator ever asks my daughter to strip I will beat him/her until every body part on him/her loses functionality. It looks like in order to follow the constitution, we Americans need to take matters in our own hands. Our government sucks!
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
THOMAS D WILSON
1:52AM 1:52AM Oct 24th 2009
YOU SOUND BAD BET YOU COULD GET YOUR ASS WHIP IF YOU TRYED ANY THING BUT USING YOUR MOUTH
Rating :
Report!
melody
2:18PM 2:18PM May 5th 2009
I have warned our school administrators about searching for items against the rules which are not illegal nor are they a safety risk.... (cell phones) because a child on a schoolbus called 911 for a student having an asthma attack. The principal searched lockers, purses, notebooks, and used metal detectors on the girls bodies. The school then "found" marijuana in a classroom that the student had NOT been in but yet he was arrested and sent to juvenile court, all because he called for help.
Parent's- I told mine in no uncertain terms that I get the final say in whatever goes on with them and if they have a teacher or any other adult who wants to violate their rights, they are to run... call me, and I will deal with it, and if ever a teacher or administrator refuses to let them call me..... $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
Oh, and by the way, if my child has done something wrong, don't doubt that I will side with the administration on proper consequences, and my kids know that too.
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
Patricia
1:55PM 1:55PM Apr 30th 2009
The school could have made it so simple! They could have searched her locker and her bag and left searching her up to her mother. They were so intent on finding something. Why not have her miss class and sit in the office like they do with other kids?
Rating :
Reply to this commentReport!
| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments