America's Shame - Justice Denied

A young girl and her mother appeared today in front of the United States Supreme Court. The young girl's case, being stripped searched, wound its way to the greatest court in the land. During the solemn discussions of the august justices, it became clear that the young lady's right to not have her person and ultimately her underwear searched for drugs was not uppermost in the minds of the justices.

Since when does a school official have the right to accuse a child of a crime, possession of an aspirin, and then conduct a humiliating search of that child that required her to strip down to her underwear and expose her private parts to two, female strangers? Since when did it become PC not to call a parent in such a circumstance? How can a seasoned justice declare that he would rather have a child's private parts searched rather than to take the next logical step of 1.) removing and securing a child away from other students with a responsible adult, until 2.) the child's parent/guardian can be contacted about the situation and 3.) once the parent arrives, state the accusation and then request the parent to examine their child to solve the problem?

For too long, children under eighteen in the United States, have had their rights eviscerated by school officials and courts. It's as if because they are young they also are without dignity.

Justice Scalia should be more concerned about the mental and emotional well-being of the young female victim who suffered an unimaginable invasion of privacy simpy because another vindictive student who had been caught with drugs, maliciously named the innocent student as the real culprit. The justices appear to have forgotten the petty and often hurtful relationships that most children endure in middle school.

It is clear that school administrators are more intent on practicing mindless "Zero Tolerance" thinking rather than really addressing the needs and concerns of the young minds that they should be molding. Adults are supposed to have the capacity to think and reason logically about situations that arise in a school environment rather than responding, like an adolescent, without a scintilla of reason to a situation where a child was ultimately, and needlessly harmed.

Justice Scalia and Justice Breyer are on a dangerous precipice - a child should never be subjected to a "strip search" without a parent's or guardian's notification and consent. Schools should be a place of safety for children, an embracing environment where children thrive and don't have to fear the adults in charge.

Children are not chattel. If children grow-up without rights, exactly how do they assume the reign of power of a free democracy if their basic rights have been violated simply because they were once children?