In a split decision a US appeals court ruled an Arizona school violated the Constitutional rights of a 13 year old girl.
The girl was suspected to have violated a policy against precription or ever-the-counter drugs on school grounds without permission.
School officials ordered the school nurse to strip the girl to her underwear and "shake" her underwear to see if Savana Redding, then 13 was hiding any pills.
The 2003 search, prompted by a tip from another girl, did not find ibuprofen, which is found in common medications like Advil and Motrin to treat pain like cramps and headaches.
Previous court decisions ruled the school did not violate the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures because officials have a legitimate interest in protecting students from prescription drugs.
The 6-5 ruling by a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday overturned an earlier decision, setting out its reasoning in an extensive 75-page ruling with many details on the complications of eighth grade life.
"Directing a 13-year-old girl to remove her clothes, partially revealing her breasts and pelvic area, for allegedly possessing ibuprofen, an infraction that poses an imminent danger to no one, and which could be handled by keeping her in the principal's office until a parent arrived or simply sending her home, was excessively intrusive," Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote for the majority.
"The self-serving statement of a cornered teenager facing significant punishment does not meet the heavy burden necessary to justify a search accurately described by the 7th Circuit as 'demeaning, dehumanizing, undignified, humiliating, terrifying, unpleasant embarrassing.'"
The girl was suspected to have violated a policy against precription or ever-the-counter drugs on school grounds without permission.
School officials ordered the school nurse to strip the girl to her underwear and "shake" her underwear to see if Savana Redding, then 13 was hiding any pills.
The 2003 search, prompted by a tip from another girl, did not find ibuprofen, which is found in common medications like Advil and Motrin to treat pain like cramps and headaches.
Previous court decisions ruled the school did not violate the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures because officials have a legitimate interest in protecting students from prescription drugs.
The 6-5 ruling by a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday overturned an earlier decision, setting out its reasoning in an extensive 75-page ruling with many details on the complications of eighth grade life.
"Directing a 13-year-old girl to remove her clothes, partially revealing her breasts and pelvic area, for allegedly possessing ibuprofen, an infraction that poses an imminent danger to no one, and which could be handled by keeping her in the principal's office until a parent arrived or simply sending her home, was excessively intrusive," Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote for the majority.
"The self-serving statement of a cornered teenager facing significant punishment does not meet the heavy burden necessary to justify a search accurately described by the 7th Circuit as 'demeaning, dehumanizing, undignified, humiliating, terrifying, unpleasant embarrassing.'"
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