Supreme court to decide case on school strip search (thought kid had ibuprofen)

[The Straight Story]

Supreme court to decide case on school strip search
Fri Jan 16, 2009 3:08pm EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether a public school violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old student by conducting a strip search of her for ibuprofen.

The school argued in its appeal that the Constitution allowed a strip search of a student suspected of having prescription-strength ibuprofen in violation of its policy that prohibited medications on campus without permission.

School officials in Safford, Arizona, ordered the search in 2003 of Savana Redding, who was in the eighth grade. Following an assistant principal's orders, a school nurse had Redding remove her clothes, including her bra, and shake her underwear to see if she was hiding ibuprofen, a common painkiller.

School officials did not find ibuprofen, which is found in over-the-counter medications like Advil and Motrin. Higher doses require a prescription.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE50F6JA20090116

[Deja Q]

1. Oh noes. Where the HELL did the principal think he put the ibuprofin?

And if he put it *THERE*, would he really have swallowed it afterward?

[rug]

2. She must have hidden it in her cow hoodie.

[The Straight Story]

4. LOL (nt)

[FiveGoodMen]

3. I have zero tolerance for this kind of shit.

Fire the assholes who wanted to do this.

Whether they had the legal ability to do it is secondary.

(Or were they afraid that all the kids would be getting high on ibuprofen?)

[bluestateguy]

8. School administrators are not the sharpest tools in the shed

They are really some of the dumbest people you will ever meet.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

17. Damn few in school administration are

Whats really fun is to challenge their authority in public and then watch them melt down.

[PM Martin]

23. True.

I believe the term for them is "paper pusher".

[Believing Is Art]

11. Didn't you hear? Ibuprofen is the next whippet!

Although more expensive and unable to provide any kind of high, students in underground ibuprofen rings swear by its use.

"It just sounded cool at first. I thought it might piss off my parents. But since I've gotten into the IBP, my headaches have gone away and I'm doing better in school. I was a little peeved at first. It wasn't the rebellion I wanted. But now I realize I just wanted attention. My parents are proud of me now," said one anonymous student.

"Julie," an honors student one would not normally associate with a drug ring, says she couldn't make it through AP Chemistry without ibuprofen. "Mrs. Palmer's voice is so annoying, like nails on a chalkboard. And her handwriting - seriously! It takes me 20 minutes to figure out if her chicken-scratch is about iron or helium. Thanks to ibuprofen, I can make it through the class and I might pull a 4 on the exam."

One might normally think student athletes would be hiding steroids, but this reporter found that most are smuggling ibuprofen. "Justin," a quarterback at one of the schools we visited, has been taking high doses of ibuprofen since his game last Saturday. "Yeah, I got sacked and twisted my ankle pretty bad. IBP really helped decrease the swelling and I'll be able to play this weekend. I heard some college scouts will be there. Thank you, IBP!"

The students we talked to knew the schools' policies on ibuprofen but they didn't care. As one student put it, "I thought I'd have to do pot or coke to be accepted by my peers. But all I have to do is bring the IBP to school and the chicks are all over me! Same time next month, sweetcheeks? Can't wait!"

[Zywiec]

5. The school argued in its appeal that the Constitution allowed a strip search

What?

The Constitution allowed a strip search of a 13 year old?

In bizarro world maybe.

[Jamastiene]

6. Oh like Ibuprofen is really some sort of major street drug.

Gimme a break. Strip searches of students makes no sense. They are supposed to be teaching them, not stripping them and shaking them down for headache medicine.

Reading stories like this makes me really glad I don't have children yet. I would be spending all of my time trying to get them to adulthood without being treated like fucking enemy combatants or prisoners by our government.

[bluestateguy]

7. Oh God.

If any school ever does that to my kid over Ibuprofen, that principal had better have a good dental plan.

[Libertyfirst]

13. And long term medical insurance.

[depakid]

9. 5-4 in favor of strip searches

or any other thing that's in violation of zero tolerance rules.

[cynatnite]

10. They couldn't call her parents?

They even consider something like this with my kid and they'll be in a world of hurt. :grr:

[TheKentuckian]

12. Ibuprofen or whatever, there is no excuse

The substance isn't important but rather completely insane search and seizure laws and rationalization.

[pnwmom]

14. This makes my blood boil. And it also helps me to remember why

I ended up sending my son to private school.

There are no Nazi-wannabes at that school.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

15. Sometimes, but not very often

I would get cramps in HS that were too bad to stay in class
So I would go to the nurse who would ask what I'd taken
IOW, what have you done to solve this yourself?
I'd say, aspirin, Midol, or whatever, hasn't worked
OK, she'd write me a pass to go home, I'd call myself a cab and be splitsville for the heating pad

[pnwmom]

16. Me, too. I thought labor was easier than some of those times in MS/HS. n/t

[orleans]

18. my daughter's school had a no drug policy too

i think i checked one time, asking "you expect me to tell her to go to the nurse if she has cramps?" yes. "then will you give her a midol or pamprin?" no. they could only give out prescription meds. i thought fuck you! i told my daughter to keep some advil & midol in her purse--just don't get caught.

how disgraceful that we have to teach our kids to sneak/lie/break the rules.

WTF?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

20. One of my daughters needed to carry a glucometer, water and food

It made the school crazy. They were not drugs, but came from her doctor as required items. She also carried lancets (the things you prick you finger with). The nurse was only part time and no one else could open the secured cabinets. They ended up letting her carry her kit, though there was occasional trouble with the water bottle.

[Ms. Toad]

21. Now, it isn't allowed.

In most schools, all medication (including over the counter) is required to be held in the nurse's office and taken under his/her supervision.

Always struck me as quite odd, since my daughter at 12 went to Australia with People to People. One of the (agency) preconditions for going was that she be competent to handle her own medication. So she comes back home after her three weeks of independence - and several years later, when she is just 2 months shy of being an adult I theoretically have to send her ibuprofen and antihistamine to the nurse's office so they can dispense it to her.

(I say "theoretically" because ....shh...we ignored that rule.)

[Quantess]

19. A lower court could not make a suitable decision on this?

Supreme Court Decision is necessary?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

24. One did, the school did not like it and is asking for certiorari

[rainbow4321]

22. Oooohhhh.... "prescription strength"

Uh, they leave out that you can take so called "prescription strength" by taking 3 or 4 of the 200 mg over the counter Advil. Guess they figure the phrase "prescription strength" will justify the strip search.