Parents and students do not check their constitutional rights at the school house door, yet the law in the area of student strip searches is not helpful to families, as Andrew Miles (Regent Law 2010) found in his research on this aspect of juvenile law. His article, Students Being Stripped of Their Rights at the Schoolhouse Gate, examines whether the best interests of the child are served when public school officials are permitted to strip search students in order to provide a safe educational environment. What he found would bring alarm to any parent.
In order to comprehend this problem, an understanding of the status of juveniles in the eyes of the law is important, and Miles provides a comprehensive overview while including a knowledge of how courts have dealt with students’ claims of unreasonable strip searches by school officials. Schools have indeed strip searched numerous students in numerous settings for an array of reasons in schools across America – yikes!
“The study of juvenile law presents two interrelated questions: what rights are recognized by the government for juveniles and how are those rights are treated under the law? Unlike animals, human children have a relatively long period during which they are vulnerable and completely dependent on adults.”
Miles expresses his dismay in what he characterizes as “the Supreme Court shirked its duties,” by opining that the law on student strip searches was not clearly defined at the time one student, Savana Redding, was searched, “instead of taking the opportunity to clarify the factors it had left unclear” in a previous similar case. Miles argues that the Supreme Court fails to protect young Americans who still have an interest in privacy, even if this interest is lessened by virtue of their juvenile status.
Parents seriously need to be informed on this area of law – for the sake of their children’s privacy and personhood. Read Andrew Miles' article here, and find out why every family should teach their children to request parental presence at ANY necessary opportunity – especially when that child is about to be subjected to a strip search!
Protecting Victims of Human Trafficking: Trauma-Informed Lawyering and
Prosecutorial Discretion
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By Esther Lines and Samantha Bush We had just ended a class discussion on
trauma-informed lawyering, and someone in our class made the point that
prosecu...
I personally think that far to much has been made of the "rights" of children. I do not think that children have rights till they attain majority. With that said children should be treated like adults in terms of strip searches. Strip searches are not banned for adults and nor should they. Generally speaking an adult will not be strip searched unless there is some emergency, the safety of others is threatened, or maybe there is a warrant. Well children do not have more rights than adults so if an adult would be strip searched in the same factual setting then by all means strip search the child. If however, an adult would not be strip searched, then one should not strip search children.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad is a school teacher, and he recently posed a interesting legal issue. Currently, at school, they have a police officer patrolling the halls and when a student is sent to the principal office, the police officer is allowed to be in the room while the principal questioned the student. Does this violate the student's fifth amendment right? Should a student have fifth amendment rights in a school setting?
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has been subjected to an illegal search during high school (students told to put backpacks in hallway, drug dog brought through, my backpack was searched outside of my presence, nothing was found as I have never had any sort of drug involvement, family letter who was ACLU attorney wrote a strongly worded letter to administration that resulted in overwhelming oppology), I think courts need to protect the rights of children. I disagree with Ian's opinion that children do not have rights. I cannot think of anything in the Constitution that would deprive children of rights. Equal Protection Clause!
ReplyDeleteAmy, I believe that a student should EXERCISE their 5th amendment right in a school setting...whether the police are present or not. As a new parent, and a future lawyer, I intend to train my son to behave properly, tell the truth, but not open his mouth when being questioned!