Newswise — Education law expert Todd DeMitchell at the University of New Hampshire is available to discuss the impact of today's U.S. Supreme Court decision that finds that an Arizona school district violated the Fourth Amendment rights of an eighth-grader who was strip-searched for prescription drugs.
The Supreme Court's decision is available at http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/08-479.pdf.
Previous comments by DeMitchell about the case: http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2009/june/lw8law.cfm.
The U.S. Supreme Court today released its decision in Safford Unified School District v. Redding. At issue is whether Safford Middle School officials violated the Arizona teenager's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure when they strip-searched her looking for prescription-strength Advil.
The court found that the strip search of the student violated the Fourth Amendment of Savana Redding. However, the court also found that although the strip search violated Savana's Fourth Amendment rights, the school assistant principal, nurse and administrative assistant who conducted the search are protected from liability. The court did not extend the same protection to the Safford Unified School District.
DeMitchell, professor of education and justice studies and chair of the UNH Department of Education, studies the impact of court cases and other legal mechanisms on schools, school liability, and adequate supervision. In addition to his research in this area, DeMitchell has two decades of experience in K-12 as a teacher, principal and superintendent. He has published more than 120 articles/chapters and four books. His most recent books are "Negligence: What Principals Need to Know to Avoid Liability" (Roman & Littlefield Education, 2006) and "Sexual Orientation, Public Schools, and the Law" (Education Law Association, 2007).
The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 11,800 undergraduate and 2,400 graduate students.
Photo: Prof. Todd DeMitchell
http://www.unh.edu/news/img/demitchell.jpg.
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