SCOTUS Rules on Student Strip Search

I've been waiting for this decision for several weeks, and I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. The NY Times has a great, concise article on the case and lays out the 7-1 decision pretty clearly.

I think the court actually walked a fine line here. They ruled that the strip search violated the constitutional rights of the middle school student, and that's a good thing. They also ruled that the administrators directly responsible (the assistant principal) cannot be held liable for the action.

This splits the issue cleanly. While most people agree that the search (in the clean light of retrospect and distance) was unreasonable, teachers and administrators cringed at the thought of being held liable for action they take in the classroom. By stating in the majority opinion that the administrator could not be held liable, the Court has prevented paralysis on the part of school officials in situations where they *might* be in the wrong.

In the end, it's always a balance between security and privacy, but I agree with the way this one finished up.