By Jonathan Perri
We shouldn't have needed the Supreme Court to confirm that school administrators do not have the authority to strip search students they suspect of wrongdoing. But that's what happened June 25 when Savana Redding finally had her day in court nearly six years after being strip searched by a school administrator and nurse because they thought she was hiding Ibuprofen in her underwear. That's right, Ibuprofen.
Although the humiliating and intrusive search was fruitless, the incident had a profound effect on Redding. The honor student was labled "the girl who brought pills to school" and eventually dropped out.
Redding, then 13, sued the school district for violating her fourth-amendment rights. After years of ascending from court to court, Redding, now 19, finally has closure. The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that her constitutional rights were violated by the school.
Unfortunately, this type of "guilty until proven innocent" is all too common among youth and authority figures. Savana Redding, though, did what most young people are too intimidated to do - she stood up for what she knew was right and didn't give up.