The Supreme Court has taken the case of Savana Redding, who in 2003 was a 13-year-old student strip searched by the teachers at Safford Middle School in Arizona in a mad search for her hidden drug stash. . . Ibuprofen. It appears that “Ibu-heads” must be a major problem at the school among the fast-living eighth grade clique.
There should be great concern when these nine jurists take such a case. The Court has steadily stripped students of their rights with regard to free speech and protection of arbitrary or abusive searches. While the federal court of appeals found the search “traumatizing” and illegal, it is likely that consistently pro-government justices like Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justice Alito will see little problem with Ibuprofen strip searches.
In this case, the vice principal had discovered prescription-strength ibuprofen pills on one of Reddings’ friends. That friend then accused Redding of providing her with the pills: typical flipping of an Ibu-head.
Redding was pulled from class by a male vice principal, Kerry Wilson, who led the interrogation and had a nurse and his assistant strip her and search her. No drug were found in her underwear or bra (despite the fact that underwear searches have proven successful with lawyers recently).
The Ninth Circuit ruled that “[c]ommon sense informs us that directing a 13-year-old girl to remove her clothes, partially revealing her breasts and pelvic area, for allegedly possessing ibuprofen … was excessively intrusive.”
Now the Supreme Court appears interested in setting aside the common sense and stripping students further of their basic rights.
For the full story, click here.
Mike Spindell,
I agree with your take on the useless “War on Drugs”. I can only hope that the Supremes will do the right thing and find for the children in this case. Maybe Prof. Turley can answer this next question, if not maybe Mespo can. Although the Supremes have accepted the case, can the Obama Justice Department refuse to argue the case?
Until we have ended the phony “War on Drugs” we will go on corrupting the foundations of our constitution and our country. The most disgustingly ironic thing about this stupid war is the “Prohibition” proved the inanity of it more than seven decades ago and yet it keeps on going filling our jails,violating our rights and corrupting our police officers who have better things to do with their time.
I recall suffering from horrific cramps when I was in school. Ibuprofen was an absolute necessity, or I would have to miss days of school. I would have been horrified to have been strip searched for this. This is absurd.
Our government is actually learning to break down school children as an interrogator would a suspect. This example is but one in a growing system of tools and tactics applied to kids so they they lose any sense of sovereignty from authority.
The initial goal is that children learn to accept the authority of government. This means that agents of the government, perhaps police officers or school officials, may have someone forcibly restrained, searched and often jailed at their sole discretion. This is justified in the name of one’s safety or the so-called interests of society. The tolerance of near absolute government authority by broader society is the ultimate aim.
Where does this lead? If courts will not protect children from such tactics, why should I doubt that body cavity searches or even forced catheterization will eventually be upheld as legal methods for searches of schoolchildren? See the recent Hooper case in Utah.
I attended several years of primary school in modern country where the Queen was on the currency. I remember the outright torture of children. Beatings, with tiny bound limbs and leather straps wielded by adults. Condoned… even welcomed by society as something in the interest of the child.
Perhaps such a system would be too coarse for use in the United States? Perhaps we will outfit our teachers and principals with tasers? First for the protection of student and teacher alike, of course, and then eventually to mete out punishment? Where will the violence and barbarism stop? Or will our children and society eventually accept that individuals are simply property of the State to be treated as It wishes?
Who cannot see the basic inhumanity of these searches? Who cannot see the end result of tolerating, condoning, and then encouraging such abuses?
“Now the Supreme Court appears interested in setting aside the common sense and stripping students further of their basic rights.”
Common sense is certainly right, and it’s a jolt to see that the school district is arguing that probable cause is just too much of a bother when it comes to strip searching teenagers.
This case should have been left as settled, and it seems beneath the dignity of the supreme court. They come across as a bunch of dirty old men (sorry Ruth, not you). For the duration of the case they get to dwell on thoughts of disrobed and humiliated teenaged children. Delicious. And they will get to sound so learned and wise with their authoritative arguments on the necessities of discipline. The more it hurts, the better. And whether or not the child actually deserves it is beside the point.
These are some of the laziest trolls i’ve ever seen, all they do is copy/paste a completely irrelevant article. It would at least be slightly entertaining if they tried to make their own reasoned arguments based on the story they are posting under, but I guess thats too much to ask for.
The strip search was outrageous, ibuprofen is not a narcotic and doesn’t justify the extreme method this school used to find it. Hopefully SCOTUS will realize that government-sanctioned molestation is not the best idea for our children.
Buddha:
“I copy on the wounded animal analogy. I just said the same thing in the Nazis for Jesus thread, mespo.”
********
Obviously the great minds think alike phenomenon! 🙂
sorry
“build your fascist empire on the bodies of our dead.” Cat assisted in the earlier posting.
I copy on the wounded animal analogy. I just said the same thing in the Nazis for Jesus thread, mespo. They only (successfully) attack the weak and fear is the only other thing the that will spur them to aggression. Otherwise they are cowards who lack real conviction much less ethics or morals (if one must use that baggage laden term). It is this weakness, this lack of grounding, that is partially responsible for their malleability by propaganda. Afraid to take responsibility for their own actions and beliefs, they are perfectly willing to let others think for them and do as they are told, often without question. Sometimes it’s a function of lack of intelligence. More often than not, it’s simply a character flaw either willful or subconsciously driven. In a certain percentage, it’s mental illness. The internet is like a beacon for people with borderline personality disorder. Occasionally it’s just plain old garden variety banal evil. This observation comes from years of hunting trolls in the wild. They think they can hide their weakness and fear behind a cloud of venom and anger, when all they do is really advertise “We are the sheeple. We abdicate free will. We are pawns. Use us. Build your ” And this is where the really evil people come into play. Where the rubber meets the road. Because the Neocons never miss a chance to exploit. It will be their undoing.
rafflaw:
“Have you noticed how aggressive the troll family has gotten lately? You would think that these minions would have understood that their savior, George W. Bush is leaving office on Tuesday and would retreat to the background.”
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Wounded and dying animals are always the most dangerous and aggressive.
Mespo,
Have you noticed how aggressive the troll family has gotten lately? You would think that these minions would have understood that their savior, George W. Bush is leaving office on Tuesday and would retreat to the background.
This strip search case is disturbing. For anyone to think that strip searching young teenage girls or boys is the answer when you are looking for ibuprofen is sick. I am afraid that the Supremes will continue their radical ways and send us further into the Middle Ages.
HEY TURLEY, WERE YOU THERE WHEN THE SON OF A FALN VICTIM SPOKE OUT AGAINST HOLDER? WHY ARE YOU SO SILENT?
Eric Holder illustrates the dangers of ambition married to weak character. His subservience to the interests of Bill Clinton in approving the corrupt pardon of Marc Rich and the indefensible pardons of the FALN terrorists was a disgrace. His role in these pardons should disqualify him for higher office.
Holder himself does not defend his role in the Rich pardon. He concedes it was a mistake. He claims somewhat paradoxically that he learned so much from his mistake that he will be a better Attorney General. Holder makes no such concession or claim in the case of the FALN terrorists.
Joseph Connor is the son of one of their victims. He testified against Holder in the confirmation hearing yesterday. In “Terrorists killed my father,” Connor writes:
At the time of the [FALN] pardons, Eric H. Holder Jr. was deputy attorney general. In considering his department’s recommendation on clemency, he met with supporters of the terrorists but ignored their victims. He pushed staff members to drop their strong opposition to a presidential pardon for the FALN members and alter a report they had prepared for the president recommending against clemency. Today, although two turned down their pardons because they were unwilling to renounce violence, many of the convicted FALN members walk free. And a man who was instrumental in their release may become the highest law enforcer in the land.
MESPOOP, Obama gonna torture jus’ lika bush if he have to anna ya know tit.
prettygirl:
“Don’t you liberals EVER think?”
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Yes we do. I think you’re deluded, and a poor mouthpiece for the incompetent short pants totalitarians you so obviously admire.
“Don’t you liberals EVER think?”
nah. We’re usually too stoned.
Arabs lost 2.5 trillion dollars from credit crunch
Jan 16 04:30 PM US/Eastern
Arab investors have lost 2.5 trillion dollars from the credit crunch, Kuwai…
Arab investors have lost 2.5 trillion dollars from the credit crunch, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah said on Friday.
“The Arab world has lost 2.5 trillion dollars in the past four months” as a result of the global financial crisis, Sheikh Mohammad told a press conference following a joint meeting of Arab foreign and finance ministers in Kuwait.
He also said that about 60 percent of development projects “have either been postponed or cancelled” by the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states because of the global meltdown.
Arab leaders who hold their first ever economic summit on January 19-20 will discuss the impact of the worldwide economic meltdown on the 22 Arab countries.
The biggest loss was an estimated 40 percent drop in the value of Arab investments abroad, which previously totalled around 2.5 trillion dollars.
Falls on stock markets contributed more than 600 billion dollars to the losses, while Arab investors were further affected by a sharp decline in oil revenues, the declining value of property investments and other repercussions of the global downturn.
Next week’s summit will also discuss the Gaza war but leaders are still intent on agreeing a joint response to the financial crisis.
Me: So with 2.5 trillion dollars these Arabs could have funded a lot of terrorists. What a hoot to think maybe God decided the world needed a credit crunch & recession to pull the plug on the money that would be used to destroy the Jews!
Weapons Horde in Gazan Mosque 13 Jan. 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Zd55Zhj5gQ&eurl=http://www.powerlineblog.com/
Amid all the international criticism of Israel’s fighting tactics in Gaza these past few days, from the hysterical, from the supercilious chiding about disproportionate response to the vicious Nazi comparisons, one prominent aspect has curiously escaped marked comment.
Israel is bombing mosques in Gaza. Six of them and counting.
Why the silence over the mosque bombings? because the Islamists know they’ve been found out.
What the heck, sure kids have a right to prescription drugs at school……..and handing them out…………and otherwise messing with the staff trying to educate kids and keep the school safe for the kids………..
Don’t you liberals EVER think?