This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Safford Unified School District v. April Redding, which addresses whether or not the Fourth Amendment prohibits public school officials from conducting a search of a student suspected of possessing and distributing a prescription drug on campus in violation of school policy. The case was filed after school officials at a middle school in Arizona strip searched a 13-year-old girl after they received an uncorroborated tip from another student that the girl possessed prescription strength ibuprofen. No drugs were found during the search. Dr. Paul Collins, University of North Texas assistant professor of political science, is available to discuss Safford United School District v. April Redding and the Supreme Court's decision on this case. Collins notes that this case could potentially be a very tough one for the justices. "On the one hand, the Court has generally frowned upon highly invasive searches absent some compelling reason for the searches and the egregious nature of the strip search in question does not bode well for the school district. On the other hand, the Court has consistently ruled that students do not enjoy the same Fourth Amendment protections as adults," he says. "But there is another issue in the case on which it may ultimately hinge. That is -- the justices will have to determine whether the school has qualified immunity from prosecution under the logic that the school believed it had the authority to conduct the suspicionless strip search." Collins is the author of Friends of Supreme Court: Interest Groups and Judicial Decision Making, which traces interest group participation in the Supreme Court in the form of amicus curiae ("friends of the court") briefs over the last 60 years. In the book, Collins focuses on the briefs' influence on individual justices' responses to the cases being considered, and the Court's overall decisions. Collins can be reached at his office at 940-369-8829, by cell phone at 940-395-5142 or by e-mail at pmcollins@unt.edu. |
