CLINTON, N.C. — Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have sued a North Carolina public school district for allegedly strip-searching a 10-year-old boy, J.C., in search of a $20 bill lost by another student, despite the fact that J.C. twice told school officials he did not have the missing money. The missing money was later found in the school cafeteria. In the complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Institute attorneys charge that former Union Elementary School Assistant Principal Teresa Holmes violated J.C.’s Fourth Amendment rights when she allegedly ordered the fifth grader to disrobe down to his underwear and subjected him to an aggressive strip-search that included rimming the edge of his underwear. The lawsuit also calls for the Sampson County Board of Education to be held accountable for failing to adequately train employees on the legal restrictions on strip searches of public school students.
The complaint in Cox v. The Sampson County Board of Education is available here.
“Such outrageous conduct by school officials not only dehumanizes students but it also deprives them of the fundamental right of privacy under our Constitution,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “These types of searches clearly illustrate the danger inherent in giving school administrators carte blanche authority to violate the civil liberties and privacy rights of students. Do we really want young people to be taught that they have no true rights and that government authorities have total power and can violate their rights as they see fit?”
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That kid looks like my ten-year old grandson in Washington State. In the late 70s I was chairman of the Radford VA school board. I shudder to think what I would have done had this been done to one of my three who were in school there. But, of course, that was on a planet in a galaxy far, far away. I'm trying to wend my way back home but not making much progress.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to wend my way back home but not making much progress.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting with an O'Douls for you and the usual for me!