Strip Search of Teen Savana Redding Ruled Unlawful, Supreme Court

by Tina Kells | June 25, 2009 at 12:55 pm

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A strip search performed at school of Arizona middle school student Savana Redding, then 13-years old, has been ruled unlawful by the US Supreme Court. In an 8-1 decision the US Supreme Court found that a school orchestrated strip search of Savana Redding looking for Ibuprofen was unconstitutional.

Ibuprofen is not an illegal substance, however, it was banned from school grounds when the strip search was performed. The strip search of Savana Redding was in reaction to reports from other students that she as "pushing pills" and not prompted by the observations of school administrators or staff. In effect Savana was humiliated by adults over teen gossip without corroborating evidence.

The Supreme Court found that the school violated the rights of Savana Redding when it ordered that she strip to her underwear and shake out her clothing. Savana was also told to pull the cups of her bra and her underwear from her body to show that there was nothing hidden inside.

The one dissenting vote was Justice Clarence Thomas who took exception to the use of the term "strip search" in the case. He says that she was not required to "fully disrobe" and therefore it was not a true strip search. Savana Redding was asked to partially disrobe in front of two female school officials. Thomas did not comment if he would feel it was still appropriate behavior had the school representatives been males.

"What was missing from the suspected facts that pointed to Savana was any indication of danger to the students from the power of the drugs or their quantity, and any reason to suppose that Savana was carrying pills in her underwear," soon-to-retire moderate Justice David Souter wrote in the majority opinion.

The justices described how the Safford Middle School official, Kerry Wilson, told Redding to "pull her bra out and shake it, and to pull out the elastic on her underpants, thus exposing her breasts and pelvic area."

The search - prompted by schoolmates who ratted Redding out as a pill pusher - came up empty.

But the 'tween girl, who had described standing exposed before the school administrators as "humiliating," felt vindicated.