Fox 4 News in Kansas City, Kan., is reporting that the Turner Unified School District No. 202 filed a motion in federal court to dismiss a lawsuit involving a 15-year-old female student who claims she was wrongfully strip-searched.
The girl’s mother, who brought the suit, says her daughter was forced to lift up her shirt and bra, exposing herself in front of a school nurse and vice principal. “If she did not submit to exposing herself to them, they would take her out of school in handcuffs, and because it was a Friday, she would not see a judge until Monday to be released,” Fox 4 News quoted the mother as saying.
The search was conducted pursuant to accusations made against the girl by another student for having drugs at school, but no drugs were ever found, according to Fox 4’s report.
The girl refuses to leave the house except for counseling, her mother claims, and is not enrolled in a school in the district at this time.
The district’s superintendent said it has a policy that prohibits strip-searches by school officials; police would normally be required to conduct such a search. He claims the girl was never asked to, nor did she, remove any clothing except her shoes. Fox 4 News reported, however, that the girl was asked to pull her bra forward with her shirt untucked. That statement reportedly is the district superintendent’s version of what happened.
The mother is seeking more than $75,000 in damages.
Since the vice principal and nurse were acting in their capacity as school officials when they allegedly requested that the girl expose herself to prove she wasn’t carrying any drugs, the suit was filed against the district. Also, remember that, as employees of a public school, the vice principal and the nurse are acting for the government, and the federal Constitution applies.
Forget the fact that this whole story rings of sensationalism, and there’s still an issue in this case over facts. Nobody agrees that a strip-search, involving removal or rearranging of clothes, actually took place on anything more than feet. Let’s pretend it did, though, which would make an exciting story for Fox 4 News, I suppose.
Were the vice principal and nurse within their rights, or did they violate the girl’s Fourth Amendment rights? Note that after 1999 and the killings at Columbine, schools have quite a bit of latitude when it comes to ensuring student safety, but the girl in this case did not stand accused of possessing a weapon, nor did anyone suspect she was packing.
Finally, what should the judge rule in this case? Was The Turner School District liable for the actions of its employees, despite a published policy prohibiting strip-searches? If not, should the judge allow a lawsuit to proceed solely against the principal and the nurse?