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Strip Searches

An unusual and highly controversial form of student search is the strip search. Strip searches are generally perceived to be among the most intrusive forms of searches and are typically administered when students are suspected of posing a considerable threat to school safety. While a legal framework for searching students was established decades prior, uncertainty remains with respect to particular aspects of administering searches, including the appropriateness of the type of search. This entry reviews a number of U.S. Supreme Court cases that have addressed the scope and rationale for strip searches.

The Supreme Court Speaks

In New Jersey v. T. L. O. (1985), the U.S. Supreme Court added clarity to discretionary powers of school officials administering searches of students. While it declared that searches of students require only a standard of reasonableness-a less rigid standard than probable cause-the Court also conveyed that students are entitled to legitimate expectations of privacy under the Fourth Amendment. Thus, students' rights are not relinquished entirely-a fundamental principle underlying former landmark students' rights cases.

The majority opinion, however, was far from absolute in addressing specific nuances of administering student searches. The Court offered little definitive and practical guidance with regard to the treatment of unlawfully seized evidence, the role of police in student searches, and the degree of privacy students have in government-owned storage.

Besides the provision that the scope of the search account for the sex, age, and maturity of the student, the majority failed to place any limitations on forms and types of searches allowable, including strip searches. Justice Stevens, in the dissenting opinion in T. L. O., expressed concern about their use, stating that strip searches “[have] no place in the school-house” (p. 382). With the exception of state laws that prohibit strip searching in schools, lower court cases reveal little consensus as to whether strip searches should be legally allowable.

Rulings in Favor of Schools

Cornfield v. Consolidated High School District No. 230 (1993) is a case that reflects the legal complexity of strip searching. Cornfield is also one of the more noteworthy and telling illustrations of judicial restraint in school administrative matters. Brian Cornfield, a 16-year-old high school student, was suspected of harboring illegal drugs in the crotch of his pants. He was subsequently strip searched by two male school officials. No drugs were discovered. Despite Cornfield's contention that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated, the court found the school's actions constitutionally based on the two-part test created in T. L. O.

According to the Seventh Circuit in Cornfield, the search was reasonably justified based on two factors: the interest of school officials in maintaining order and safety and the student's problematic behavioral history. In reference to the scope of the search, the court upheld the use of the strip search as a reasonable means to “confirm or deny” suspicion of “crotching” drugs (p. 17). While it appeared that school officials may have exceeded legal boundaries of discretion with respect to intruding on the student's privacy, this case and others reflect an accommodating posture toward the strip search as a reasonable alternative if the legal criteria are met.

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