9th Circuit Strip-Search School Case Says No Immunity for School Officials

9th Circuit Rules for Student in Strip-Search for Ibuprofen and Finds No Immunity for School Officials [9th Circuit Court of Appeals, 7/11/08]: In Redding v. Safford Unified School District #1 the 9th Circuit Court, in a stunning 6-5 decision, said: “On the basis of an uncorroborated tip from the culpable eighth grader, public middle school officials searched futilely for prescription-strength ibuprofen by strip-searching thirteen year-old honor student Savana Redding. We conclude that the school officials violated Savana’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. The strip search of Savana was neither “justified at its inception,” nor, as a grossly intrusive search of a middle school girl to locate pills with the potency of two over-the-counter Advil capsules, “reasonably related in scope to the circumstances” giving rise to its initiation. Because these constitutional principles were clearly established at the time that middle school officials directed and conducted the search, the school official in charge is not entitled to qualified immunity from suit for the unconstitutional strip search of Savana.”
Read the full decision, go to:
Read the account in “The Recorder” [7/14/08], go to:
To read some of the dissenting opinions, go to the California School Law blog:
Read what some other blogs are saying.

Some thought-provoking articles for the summer

Today's news posits some interesting opportunities to stretch my summer thinking. I heard that the great Linda Greenhouse, the BEST Supreme Court reporter there is, will be retiring from the NY Times job. The simple, straight-forward and lucid prose that she explained, in terms we all could begin to understand, dense Supreme Court decisions will be missed. Going, but not forgotten. We have one week left to ask her questions at the NY Times by sending questions to askthetimes@nytimes.com. In addition, read her thoughts as she departs.

On a totally unrelated subject, another article in the Times asks for feedback on the questions of whether human rights should extend to non-humans (e.g., apes).

Finally, today, there is an online article from Eugene Volokh (and Robert J. Cottrol, Sanford Levinson, L.A. Powe, Jr., and Glenn Harlan Reynolds), discussion "The Second Amendment as Teaching Tool in Constitutional Law Classes," published at 48 Journal of Legal Education 591 (1998). This thought-provoking article will stimulate any teacher of con law. It is written for law school professors, but why limit the fun to just them? In light of the recent Supreme Court decision in D.C. v. Heller, it bears re-reading.

“Constitutional law, it its baffling complexity, is a reflection of our deepest values, our political conflict, and our nation's moral trajectory.”—Professor Doug Linder, “Introduction to the Study of Constitutional Law”

Welcome to the Conlawed blog. I will begin posting on or before July 15. This blog will replace the hundreds of newsletters that the CLEP has published for the past six years. My hope is that the postings will be relevant to Civics/Government/Con Law teachers in high schools around the country. Also, I hope that it stimulates dialogue among teachers about teaching this greatest of all subjects.

In the meantime, check out the latest comments regarding the Supreme Court term of 2007-2008 from the great Linda Greenhouse in this morning's NY Times, Cornell's LII, and Tony Mauro.