Safford+Unified+School+District

Background: In Safford Middle School in Arizona, Savana Redding was strip-searched because someone tipped the school officials that she had ibuprofen. She filed suit against the school officials responsible and district saying that her 4th Amendment right was violated. The district court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgement and dismissed the case. On the intial appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed. However, after rehearing the case before the entire court, they found that Ms. Redding's 4th Amendment right was violated. The Supreme Court held that Savana's 4th Amendment right were violated when school officails searched her underwear for non-prescription painkillers. The court reiterated that, based on a reasonable suspicion, search measures used by school officials must be "reasonably related to the objectives of the search and not excessively intrusive in light of the sex or age of student and the nature of the infraction". The court also held that the implicated school administrators were not personally liable because "clearly established law did not show that the search violated the 4th Amendment". It reasoned that lower court decisions were disparate enough to have warranted doubt about the scope of a student's 4th Amendment right.

Majority Opinion: 6-3

Minority Opinion:3-6