High court to consider strip-search case

SAFFORD, Ariz., April 11 (UPI) -- A case before the U.S. Supreme Court will test the limits of schools when it comes to strip-searching students, the American Civil Liberties Union says.

The ACLU is representing Savana Redding, now 19, in her case against the Safford Unified School District in Arizona, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

Redding was 13, and an honors student, when she was strip-searched by two female school employees who suspected she had brought prescription-strength ibuprofen pills to school.

Redding said she was told to remove her pants and T-shirt and to move her bra from side to side, which exposed her breasts, and to pull out the waistband of her underwear, the Post reported.

Redding had no pills and her family sued, saying she was unreasonably searched under the Fourth Amendment, a conclusion supported by the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The school district appealed to the Supreme Court and the case is scheduled to be heard this month.

The justices will consider just how much flexibility school officials have in policing zero-tolerance policies for drugs and violence, said lawyers for each side.