Safford Unified School District #1 v. Redding

Summary

The Court held that school officials violated the Fourth Amendment by requiring a 13-year-old student to expose her breasts and pelvic area during a search for common pain-relief pills because the suspicion did not justify that degree of intrusion. The Court nevertheless held that the individual officials were entitled to qualified immunity because the unlawfulness of the search was not clearly established at the time. The Court remanded the school district’s potential municipal liability for consideration under the governing municipal-liability doctrine. Justice Stevens, joined by Justice Ginsburg, and Justice Ginsburg separately would have denied qualified immunity; Justice Thomas would have held that the search was constitutional.