Court Upholds Strip Search at School Was Unconstitutional

ATLANTA — A federal appeals court has upheld a judge’s ruling that a strip search of elementary school pupils was unconstitutional but that a teacher and a police officer involved could not be sued for conducting the search.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday that U.S. District Judge Julie Carnes was correct in ruling that Clayton County school officials, the school district and county police were shielded from liability in the 1996 search.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the school system and police on behalf of 11 West Clayton Elementary School fifth-graders who were searched for a missing $26. The money, which had been collected for a school trip, was never found.

The judge ruled in 1999 that the search was a violation of 4th Amendment protections against unreasonable searches. The appellate panel agreed.

The appeals court said she was correct in ruling that there was no clear legal authority at the time alerting school and police officials that a search of an entire classroom was illegal, and those officials were protected from liability because they acted to fulfill their duties.