Student Strip Searches: The Legal and Ethical Implications of Safford Unified School District v. Redding for School Leaders

Abstract

The legal freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures is guaranteed to all adult citizens under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. These same legal protections from unreasonable searches and seizures are not guaranteed to today's K-12 student population. School officials are not subject to the same warrant and probable cause requirements required of law enforcement officials to constitute a legally viable search. Instead, the legal constitutionality of searches involving U.S. students is guided by the reasonableness of the search toward maintaining appropriate school discipline. Given the mounting pressures to improve school safety, today's school leaders are facing conflicting legal and ethical challenges associated with balancing the competing goals of student safety with respecting students’ legal rights. Student strip searches are one such example of a legal and ethical dilemma facing today's school leaders. This article explores the legal and ethical implications of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent case Safford United School District v. Redding, involving the strip search of a middle school student for nonprescription drugs. A central inquiry of this article is whether student strip searches are in the best legal and ethical interests of student leaders.