Good Morning Gentle Readers,
Who, exactly, believes it is reasonable to strip search a thirteen year old honor student because she might be hiding ibuprofen tablets?
For starters, vice principal Kerry Wilson and for finishers five of the eleven justices sitting on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, who ruled Friday that Savana Redding was violated. I guess it was just her rights that were violated. [turns and spits] Not often TWC sides with the ACLU.
Common sense informs us that directing a 13-year-old girl to remove her clothes, partially revealing her breasts and pelvic area, for allegedly possessing ibuprofen, an infraction that poses an imminent danger to no one, and which could have been handled by keeping her in the principal's office until a parent arrived or simply sending her home, was excessively intrusive.
And all this to find prescription-strength ibuprofen, Wardlaw wrote, noting that one pill has the strength of two over-the-counter Advil and might be commonly used by young women to treat menstrual cramps.
And, to paraphrase R C Dean, if a strip search to find the equivalent of over-the-counter pain relievers isn't unconstitutional, what would be?
This atrocity is the predictable result of block headed zero tolerance drug policies implemented by robotic public school administrators and enforced by intolerant, rule bound, brain dead zealots with no capacity for critical thinking.
Setting aside for the moment one's emotional outrage, let's ask ourselves another question: What rational grown adult would risk exposing an employer to this kind of potential legal liability over a Motrin? The arrogant self-righteousness is stunning.
This is your trillion dollar Drug War, America. The one you lost thirty years ago. The one that sacrificed my children's American birthright. The one that torched the Bill of Rights. And for what? To keep some junkie off the needle? DEA's effectiveness at keeping the streets drug free is also stunning. And 92 year old Kathryn Johnston? Well she's dead. Gotta break a few eggs, right?
No ibuprofen was found. Kerry Wilson isn't sweating, he's standing in the shade, safe under the blanket immunity umbrella erected by the government to protect itself from any and all claims against it's employees. He is, in fact, still employed by the school district. UPDATE: I received several emails pointing out that vice principal Kerry Wilson is, in fact, liable for monetary damages stemming from this ruling.
And those of us who swore vengeance in the form of a billboard in Wilson's home town, showing his photo and the words I strip searched a thirteen year old and didn't lose my job are feeling a nudge of guilt right now for not following through.
This is America, not some third-world hell hole. That five robed justices could in any way consider that strip searching a thirteen year old girl, without a warrant, without parental consent, without a court order, and on the basis of a hot tip from another girl who was in deep doo doo herself speaks volumes about the cesspool we call a judicial system. Says quite a bit about public education as well.
Where the heck is Jamie Kelley and his Fountain of Tourettes to describe these people and what needs to be done to them?
If there is justice in the afterlife, surely the theological place of eternal damnation will embrace them all. Won't need robes there.
Shotgun Sings The Song Regards,
TWC
Tip of the glass to Jacob Sullum
