It’s official - mass strip searches are unconstitutional
Judges Rule High School Strip Searches Unconstitutional in ACLU of Michigan Lawsuit
On April fourth a panel of judges ruled that Whitmore Lake High School’s (Whitmore Lake Public School District) strip search of 20 students was unconstitutional. The strip search was instigated at the direction of acting principal Charmaine Balsillie in order to find money that was stolen from a student’s gym bag. Teachers stripped and searched the entire gym class under the instruction of a police officer.
In the ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit determined, “The highly intrusive nature of the searches, the fact that the searches were performed on a substantial number of students, the fact that the searches were performed in the absence of individualized suspicion, and the lack of consent, taken together, demonstrate that the searches were not reasonable.” The ruling is binding on all school officials in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
The teachers and the police officer were determined to be immune from personal culpability as they were government officials working in the capacity of their duties. The students have not stated if they will appeal the immunity ruling.
(Tip credit to Tori in Texas)
So what if a judge determines that strip-searching minors is unconstitutional. If there is no remedy available to the children or their parents then this type of action will continue. Why would they (school administrators and teachers and/or police) stop, seeing as how they are “determined to be immune from personal culpability as they were government officials working in the capacity of their duties.â€Â
The Court provides some clarification regarding the “tests” that must be passed to legally strip search a student. For example, if the search were for a gun instead of cash, go for it. If the students are participating in a voluntary activity (e.g., an extracurricular activity with a more extensive set of established guidelines), the school authorities have more leeway. The Court uses tests of reasonableness, and requires not just knowledge of students’ rights, but also judgment. Another strike against mindless “Zero Tolerance.”
Any lawyers reading this? Does this ruling have any effect on a school’s right to search student cars on school property, without any individual cause?
I understand what you are saying Matt but my point was that it doesn’t matter if the search was legal or not … the perpetrators of the search can not be held accountable because they are “government officials working in the capacity of their duties.†So what if they did the same thing tomorrow … and the day after that … and so on. They are operating in the capacity of their duties. Wow, if only I could get away with illegal searches but not held accountable. Imagine the information I could gather about individuals. Or what if I just got my kicks by making minors strip in front of me.
When is it no longer “in the capacity of their duties†and just wrong?
(Note: I am not a lawyer.)
I believe the difference is that there is now a court decision stating that this is illegal. While they may have believed that the strip search was legal (and I believe that some strip searches are legal), and therefore done “in the capacity of their duties”, future searches cannot use such a defense.
Just as a school administrator can’t claim that robbing a bank because the school was short of funds is “in the capacity of his duty” to fund the school, they can’t claim that future searches such as these were done so as well.
It’d be so nice to see a judge rule in favor of students instead of schools for once. These administrators and principals are power-hungry jackasses who get off on what they do.
Well you know what they say about broken clocks…
For all of the evil that they do, the ACLU does in fact do some good every so often such as this case where they helped get students some of their fourth amendment rights back:
DETROIT - In a victory for student rights, a panel of federal judges r…
What if the child says no and refuses to comply? Do they forcibly strip search?
No, they wouldn’t forcibly strip search the kid. What they would/could do is have the kid arrested and then do it at the police station.
strip searches are unconstitutional!!!!