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Searching Savana

By Pat Racimora on June 26, 2009 at 10:01 PM in Supreme Court

websavana_edited-11
Middle School was the pits.

The only kids who weren’t self-conscious in the extreme about their evolving bodies and appearance were those few precocious jocks destined for high school football glory. To minimize exposure of the shiny wire braces on his teeth, one of my friends refused to speak unless absolutely necessary. Another tried to fake mononucleosis (the teenage diagnosis du jour) to buy time so that a bad haircut could grow out.

So it is difficult to imagine how 13 year old Savana Redding felt while being forced to expose her breasts and pelvic area to school officials. There was perhaps a reasonable suspicion that Redding could be in possession of a couple of Advil and possibly an Aleve because school personnel were tipped off by another student. Yet, was this breech of the rules sufficient to warrant what amounted to a strip search?

Even though Savana was also suspected of bringing other contraband to school, by an 8 to 1 majority the Supreme Court of the United States concluded that her rights had been violated and that the suspected breach failed to rise to the level of danger that would justify that degree of bodily invasion.

Oh, by the way, no pills were found in her backpack or on her person.

The case itself is somewhat complex, and good overviews appear
here and here. But the question remains as to what rights schools have when they receive tips from other students about threats that could endanger other students and school personnel.

Columbine and similar tragedies have put schools on alert. Students are actively encouraged to report any potential problems, and these reports are taken seriously. Yet there appears to be no bright line to demarcate exactly when extreme measures can and should be taken. Perhaps for that reason the Court did not impose any penalties on the personnel at Savana’s school. Yet, a quest to search for a couple of Advil’s by invading the body of a teenage girl, even though done by a female nurse and secretary, crosses way over some line.

What do you think?

  • solara9

    Suspected of carrying 2 Advils? Are they nuts? Shame on them. Thirteen is a very vulnerable age.

    • Rich

      That is the problem when people are not allowed to think, and rules are made so no personal judjement is required.

      Rich

  • Animal Control

    Even though Savana was also suspected of bringing other contraband to school

    This is completely unnecessary gossip and I’m surprised to see it on this site.

    Give me a break, what relevance is Columbine?

    One kid got caught with aspirin and rated on another and the school administrators went berserk–that’s the story.

    • Pat Racimora

      AC–It’s a MUCH bigger story than that!

  • NomNomNom

    “But the question remains as to what rights schools have when they receive tips from other students about threats that could endanger other students and school personnel.”

    yes this is exactly the problem, because there is no way to guarantee that other students and teachers are neutral parties. imo they are anything but.

    the unpleasant solution is likely to be to videotape the entirety of the school, excepting, one hopes, inside the bathroom stalls.

    • jwrjr

      Unless the person giving the tip is held liable (i.e. perjury), a “tip” can never be more than “hearsay” – inadmissable in court (unless you are accused of being a terrorist. Then all bets and protections are off).

  • JohnnyB

    Pat, another good cartoon and issue.

    This brings up the bigger picture, what are we so afraid of that we need this “police action” even at middle school level. We can’t stop people from going crazy and shooting many people. We can’t stop repeats of 9/11, but we have taken away all of our rights as American Citizens to life, liberty, and the pursue of happiness. The TSA at airports is one of the biggest jokes. Billions being spent has not made us more secure, but has made us less American.
    Our Freedoms that were fought for from our initial revolution have been taken away from us under the Patriot Act (should have been called Un-Patriot Act).
    Billions and Billions being spent daily in Central Asia for no reason.

    Do you remember how much we spent in Viet Nam? What was the outcome? Over 52,000 U.S. troops killed, so many mentally destroyed (the highest percentage of homeless on the streets are Viet Nam vets). And Saigon is now Ho Chi Minh City. God, what will be Afghanistan called? What is its official title today? ” The Islamic Republic of Afganistan”.
    Now we move into Pakistan. Iran is bursting open. Iraq is in meltdown. India is laughing. Saudi Arabia is scared to death.

    The only answer is to form “The Islamic Republic of Central Asia” and get out.

    • I’m a Linda too

      Excellent points. Well said, thank you.

  • http://firefox AnnieCollier

    Glad she’s having the last laugh. I hope she collects big time.

    I do get though that school officials are freaked out at the possibility of another student killing but this seems over the top.

    • Animal Control

      The court gave a pass to the principal or assistant principal can’t remember which but the school board is liable.

  • Animal Control

    but this seems over the top

    Proportionality–where did it go.

  • TexasMirth

    This brings up the bigger picture, what are we so afraid of that we need this “police action” even at middle school level.

    I don’t think it’s fear. I think it’s bullying. Many “officials” abuse their power, whether in schools or police departments or any institution where authority figures can dole out punishments at their own discretion. When the victims are kids, it is really disgusting. If mine were still school age, I’d seriously consider homeschooling.

    • QueenofHearts

      TexasMirth, you couldn’t be more right! I’ve done this, with the highest success! Email me, I can give you some leads…

  • jwrjr

    The dissenting opinion (“Justice” Thomas, as I recall it) seems to be based on the proposition that due to the “tip”, Redding was guilty until proven innocent. Disgusting.

    • candymarl

      Not a surprise. Even Scalia says Thomas is to the right of him. That’s downright scary.

    • Sammie

      I just read his dissenting opinion, and it’s actually pretty scary.

  • Texas Playwright

    If there “must” be a strip search, better to take the kid off campus and let female juvenile dept. officers do it. I was an elementary teacher, and cmpaus gossip by adults and children does so much harm, even without the press. To have that happen to a kid at her/his school/social connection area is way too tough.

    • Texas Playwright

      Campus, I mean.

  • Stan Davis

    I don’t think I have an opinion on this. For one thing, we don’t know exactly what the tip said or what was known about the tipster and the victim–if there’s any history there to cause one to be believed and the other not. No matter what, it should have been handled with great sensitivity. School officials may have their hands tied–maybe they have to investigate. But the sensitivities and rights of the student must be protected all the same–like if they didn’t have a female nurse on the premises to conduct a one-on-one search, they should have sent for one.

    • jwrjr

      No matter what was the “tip”, Redding was constitutionally supposed to be considered “innocent until proven guilty”. Eight of the Justices seem to have remembered that.

      • Stan Davis

        Well, true admittedly, and I appreciate your comment, but the point I was trying to make is that school officials sometimes have to walk a very fine line between state-imposed draconian laws regarding drugs and weapons in the schools and the individual rights of students. The various legislatures have a role to play in this. In this particular case, though, the officials seem to have fallen to the side of the line that violates students’ rights.

        Stan Davis
        Lakewood, CO

        • jwrjr

          Actually, I agree with you about how to conduct the search … if one is really nexessary.

        • http://ezinearticles.com/?Three-Basic-Parenting-Styles&id=744499 Northwest rain

          There was a CLEAR right and wrong and the girl was VIOLATED by adults. She’ll probably have trust issue all the rest of her life — no trust in authorities. Which might be a good thing — she’s learned early that people in authority very often abuse their authority.

    • Layla

      No “tip” by a fellow student should ever be given so much credence by school officials.

  • Rich

    Wonderful cartoon! I am sorry that she had to be searched in that way. However I am even more sorry that because of the lack of personal responsibility of adults, which is passed down to the children, this is what school has become. School is not about encouraging the smart people, but making sure that those who do not have it or are not motivated to try do not feel bad. Schools are now also about metal detectors, locker searches, shootings on campus, dug dealing, lack of respect for all authority (including teachers), and if something is wrong let’s find someone to blame.

    Rich

  • QueenofHearts

    I just want to vomit.

  • Jim

    This incident is so far over the top – The Hubble telescope would have a problem seeing it. The entire chain of command in that school district should be dismissed and barred from ever working in anything related to children, schools, or Government ever again.

    I disagree with the idea of such a search to begin with. Her parent or responsible legal representative should have been there, and it would have been utterly obvious to a moron by the time she got to her scivvies that she lacked any Colombine weaponry.

    My granddaughter just turned 12. I can promise you that her Mother would go ballistic to the point of arrest and forcible restraint if this happened to her. So would I.

    The people who created such a policy in the first place must be pedophiles.

    • CentralMass

      Back in first grade, 1966, I grabbed the wrong lunch one morning. It was my brothers lunch, balogna and mustard, which I hated.

      We ate lucnh at our desks and the school policy was that you had to finish it. The teachers would check.I took a few bites, then slyly slipped it into the wax paper and hid it my desk, hoping I’d have an opportunity to throw it away.

      Our teacher was right out of college and a bit timid. She enforced the rules without questioning them. About a week later our Principal/2nd grade teacher stopped into class. She was the protypical battle-ax, a nsaty women in her 60′s who hated kids.
      She asked the class to open our desks and pull out a book and when I opened mine the girl sitting next to me saw the sandwich and raised her hand to to tattle-tale on me. It was just before recess break and the battle-ax made me stay in while she and my teacher forced me (verbally) to eat what was now a moldy, green, week old sandwich. It made me ill and it wasn’t until I vomited that they stopped.

      Four decades later and I still remember it.

  • http://syd4.blogspot.com/ SYD

    As a mom who raised three kids through the public school system, I have no problem with searching kids backpacks and lockers.

    Strip searches, however, are another whole thing.

    I am glad to see that the courts have sided with the student in this case.

    (Geesh. What is this country coming to?)

  • http://sarainitalyblog.blogspot.com sarainitaly

    The should not have touched her without having her parents present. A strip search? That is awful! I would think she should have her parents there, and I would have demanded like police and an attorney…

    • http://rabblerouserruminations.blogspot.com Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy

      A strip search of a MINOR without her parents present??? That is offensive in the extreme, especially if the “charge” was two ADVILS! WTH????

      EXCELLENT toon, Pat – thank you!

    • Sammie

      They shouldn’t have touched her without having her parents present. Actually, they shouldn’t have touched her period, and her parents should have been contacted immediately.

      I can’t even imagine my reaction if this type of thing happened to one of my children. I don’t know if I would be satisfied unless and until those involved were held accountable through the legal process.

      Just think about how any adult would feel if this type of policy was enacted in the workplace. Could you imagine being stripped searched based on a “tip” by a co-worker? (Would you be okay with it provided it was conducted by a nurse or a doctor and another employee of the same sex?)

      It’s not like the administration was tipped off that she had weapons in her locker or was planning to harm others. Do we really want to reach the point where a tip by anyone (even someone caught with contraband who’s obviously trying to save their own backside and place blame elsewhere) with no corroborating evidence, and for such a minor offense, can result in search and seizure?

      Is guilty until proven innocent okay for school environments? If so, what other environments could that attitude migrate too?

      • AZBlondie

        I agree with the poster above that strip searches *if necessary* (and I believe the standard should be for something a whole lot higher than an accusation by another student of possession of an OTC pain med, for heavens sake!) should be done off-campus and by someone other than the school administrators.

        Personally, I don’t get why advil and tylenol and the like are prohibited in the first place. Its not like they are mind altering in any way… Is it simply because allowing some pills makes it more difficult to control what *is* in the little Advil bottle in the 14-year old’s purse??

        When I was in high school, most of the girls carried little bottles of midol in their purses, and no one ever thought twice about it.

        This whole zero tolerance thing is out of control. A co-worker’s 6th grade daughter (an honor student) was given a week-long in-school suspension because she had the nerve to pack a PLASTIC KNIFE in her lunch box so she could spread cream cheese on her bagel. Even being fully aware that knives are prohibited at school, I don’t think I would have made the connection – it would never occur to me that a plastic knife would be considered a weapon and treated the same way as a concealed switchblade!!

      • Animal Control

        The tipster was a student who was actually in possession “en flagrante” of the pain reliever. “I’ts not mine it’s the other guys”

  • Denise

    As always, Pat, well drawn!!!

  • I’m a Linda too

    Thank you for the post Pat.

    This case was just so outrageous, I could not believe we were talking about this like “gee, do you think this was an invasion of privacey”? WHAT, again, where wa sthe outrage that this was DONE?

    My, how low our citizens values have dropped. Maybe they really didn’t want a free America anymore and longed for the ruling of a dictator, to ‘be taken care of’ like Jackie Chan views fellow Chinese citizens.

    I did NOT know this case was heardy by the Supreme Court and what the outcome was, but this sure is a relief to learn. The actions…and non action still done, but to learn this SCOTUS felt the same as us. It could not even be explained away.

  • sandi78

    The problem in schools is the “Zero Tolerance” they have mostly adopted. That and school students can, and are, interrogated by the police without their parents’ knowledge or consent or, obviously, presence.

    Zero Tolerance sounds great and it satisfies the need of the population to feel comfortable that our schols are doing their part in the “War on Drugs” and of course, the “War on Terror”. It’s nonsens. All Zero Tolerance does is absolve the school administration from having to think and make decisions based on the facts before them in any specific case. And it is all because they don’t want to be sued.

    They are not allowed/relieved of the need, under Zero Tolerance, to differentiate between Advil and heroin and weapons of mass destruction. None are allowed on campus and that’s all the administration cares about.

    The case of this girl being strip-searched is, I’d be willing to bet, not the only one. Thank goodness that most of the Justices decided the way they did. I wonder if Justice Roberts could see his own kids in this situation. You know Ruth Bader Ginsburg would let them know how particulary humiliating this would be for a girl.

  • JozefAL

    While I in no way support the school’s strip searching this girl, I do have a question that I’d like everyone to consider: What if it had been a BOY, instead of a girl? Would the outrage (or even the Court outcome) have been the same?
    It’s always easy to think of a girl’s being a vulnerable, helpless creature who is so self-conscious about her evolving body but boys can be even more so, especially given that teenage propensity for the unexpected erection (just imagine how humiliated a boy being strip-searched would be as he starts getting hard); boys who have one of those unexpected erections in gym class feel bad enough but while you’ve got school officials staring at you while you’re undressing and being “inspected” can’t be any easier.
    I can’t help but think the Court’s verdict would have been much closer (if it hadn’t actually been in favor of the school) if the strip-search victim had been STEVEN Redding. I would hope I’m wrong, but the simple fact is that boys in schools are often subject to a completely different standard when it comes to privacy.

    • Sammie

      My opinion would be the same regardless of the sex of the student. The school’s response was not reasonable based on the circumstances, and the student’s rights were violated. I might even go so far as to say students should not be stripped searched by school officials period. Unless an offense rises to the level of calling in the police, the privacy of the student should be respected (go ahead and search the locker and backpack, and any outer garments, but let the student keep his or her clothes on).

      All teens are somewhat vulnerable, especially when dealing with adults in position of authority, and should at least be allowed to contact their parents before being subject to such a high degree of suspicion and questioning (if the administration viewed this as such a big deal, why not call the parents).

    • sandi78

      You’re right, there is a double standard in schools. Let me tell you a story about my son.

      When he was in 8th grade, a girl who was one of his friends, told the assistant principal that my son had touched her breast. Two of the girl’s friends, also friends of my son, said they had witnessed this. It never happened, but there were all those girls saying it did, so my son was interviewed by the police on campus without my knowledge. Ultimately, he had a note placed in his record and was suspended for three days.

      When they all got to high school the following year, the girl admitted to my son that she had lied and apologised. She hd been angry because he wouldn’t take her to some school dance. Nice that she finally apologised, but what good did that do my son? Too late to clean it off his record.She suffered no consequence at all for lying in such a terrible way.

      So my experience as the mother of boys and girls is that girls are always believed, and boys pay for it.

      • Onofre’s arm

        “..girls are always believed, and boys pay for it.”

        How true. That same double standard of credibility extends into adulthood as well. It has almost become routine in contentious divorces for the woman to automatically claim abuse, verbal or physical, even though the man may be completely innocent. Once accused, it is nearly impossible for any man to prove his innocence, as it’s difficult to prove a negative. Ironically, the worst aspect of such false accusations is that it detracts from the credibility of women who actually are abused, so it would make sense for the penalties to be severe for women who’ve made false charges. The lawyers that encourage such vile behavior should also be punished. The more contentious the divorce is, the more money the lawyers walk away with, and they care little about the lives that may have been ruined.

        Sandi, although it is sad in a way, your son may have learned a valuable lesson about people, I hope he had nothing else to do with the girls that trashed his reputation, and I hope the girls learned the damage that can be caused by falsely crying “wolf”.

    • elise

      Jozefal, most parents would object to a strip search of their thirteen year old child irregardless of the gender. Never-the-less, your comment was a little strange from where I sit.

      A strip search of a boy would have been done by two men and surely in such an instance they would understand an “unexpected” erection. Of course I’m not male so I don’t understand all of the biological considerations, but this doesn’t seem to be a situation conducive to arousal. It’s probably my ignorance which leads me to believe the part in question would shrivel as much as possible for protection.

      Pat’s post is about the right to privacy, not gender bias, so what is your point?

      BTW, Pat, the toon makes me cringe and since the point of illustration is to help promote understanding, it is extremely successful.

  • Marvin

    Her rights have definitely been violated. Let’s just hope that’s the only thing that was. . .

  • socalannie

    This is why I pulled my last kid out of school in 2nd grade and started homeschooling. The second grade teacher was an absolute pyschopath, but it turns out she did us a favor. The homeschool experience has been amazing and my kid has gotten a far broader education, is a well-adjusted and happy teen, and gotten to take amazing classes and field trips and other events with our local homeschool group (200+ families). He went to his first homeschool prom a couple of weeks ago. It was so beautiful, it made me cry. It was held at the nicest hotel in our town (a Hyatt).

    Meanwhile my husband works for the 2nd largest school dist in the US. I’m not going to state exactly what his job is, but he’s been to most of the schools. He’s thrilled I agreed to stay home & homeschool our son & his co-workers are always asking him “what cool field trip or activilty did the homeschoolers do this week”. We feel very lucky to be out of the insane school system.

  • mamakay

    And we wonder why children dont respect their elders any more.
    Im sure this child will be scared by this for a very long time. I hope the school system is ordered to -at the very least-provide her with council if she wants it, What vile adults these were.

  • Layla

    I am so disgusted by this I don’t know what to say. Thank goodness the USSC voted the right way, but still…the fact that this is even up for debate just shows how totally f*cked up our country is. And though Pat says the search was done “by a female nurse and secretary”, I have heard elsewhere that the male vice principal at the center of this lawsuit personally ordered and conducted the search–in other words, an older man ordered a 13-year old girl to expose her genitals to him. I am amazed at the restraint this girl’s mother showed when she picked her daughter up from that school. If it was me hearing that story from my little girl, a half-hour later I would be sitting in a jail cell up on assault charges on that vice-principal.

    Also, can someone please explain to me why the possesion of over-the-counter painkillers is a searchable offense in schools today?

    • PO’dVet

      I’d have to agree with you Layla. Of course I’d probably be squishing his eyeballs in my hands as the cops put the cuffs on me…but I’m fairly certain…No jury would convict!

  • Barry 0351

    As a parent of a boy if this had happened to him at thirteen I would have wanted some quiet time alone with the school administrators.

  • http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

    This is one of the reasons I no longer work in the public schools. All the stupid laws were/are stripping teachers, administrators, and students of common sense, individual responsibility, and academic freedom.

    I stood in the hallway one day and realized it was only a matter of time before someone would find a reason to sue – valid or not – since a teacher each year in my building had been sued by a parent or was put on probation by the district.

    The system itself was toxic. The top administrators were either unavailable for any type of support or unwilling to get involved, period.

    This girl was a victim of toxic thinking.

  • http://barbarany_9.blogspot.com Barbara

    When I was in Elementary School (1968) my Fifth Grade teacher had a singular dislike for myself and my parents. I don’t know why and looking back on it I still think she had a screw or 10 loose.

    This woman, adult woman – set me up (an 11 year old no less) to be taunted by my classmates and even left me at a school outing to wander 2 miles back to school myself… with no remorse.

    I have PCOS and one of the signs of that is precocious (early) puberty. Mine hit hard when I was 9. I had full breasts and pubic hair by 10. A couple of my classmates told this to the teacher… who marched me down to the nurse and called me a liar. She and the nurse DEMANDED I strip in front of them. STRIP.

    Afterwards they called my mother and wanted to know what was wrong with me! If that happened today I’d have had a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the school district.

    I feel for this girl. I know what she went through.

    The school should be ashamed of itself.

    • Tricia Spiegel

      Gosh, what a story Barbara. I think those kinds of events stick with a person forever.

      Once at a party we decided to share our most humiliating moment. We were all full-fledged adults, but without exception our stories featured school-related events around the ages of 10-14.