Keep Your Clothes On

The Supreme Court ruled today that an Arizona school district violated a 13 year old girl's constitutional rights when they conducted a strip search on the girl to try to find prescription strength Advil.  The court did say the officials who conducted the search are not liable and the lower courts need to rule on the issue of school district culpability.  The Court's decision came on an 8-1 vote.  The lone dissent by Justice Clarence Thomas who must believe that strip searches should be required before even setting foot in a school. 

This good news for those of us who think paranoia over drugs and no tolerance policies lead to more problems than they actually solve.  In an effort to protect kids from the dangers of ses and drugs the law has routinely allowed authorities to overstep their bounds and stomp on the rights of children and youth.  It's good to see the Supreme Court starting to halt this madness.

Between today's ruling, and the ruling earlier this week upholding much of the Voting Rights Act, I think temporary legal sanity might have broken out on the Robert's Court.