Settlement Nears in High School Drug Search
A local high school in Goose Creek, SC drew national media attention back in November 2003 when local police drew their guns and performed a drug search on a number of students. The local weekly paper The Goose Creek Gazette headlines this week read “Stratford students will be compensated for drug search” as a settlement may be near for “All Stratford High students on campus when a drug search made national headlines.” The story reports that “about 62 students and their families filed lawsuits after the incident contending the students’ constitutional rights were violated.”
“Fritz Jekel, an attorney for the students who filed lawsuits after the incident, told The Gazette Friday that all parties involved know that there were about 130-150 students in the main hallway on the day of the search. However, there were approximately 2,500 students on campus that day. Each one of those students will be mailed a notice to help determine who should be compensated from the proposed class-action suit.
Attorneys and parties involved met last Wednesday to discuss details of the tentative settlement.” Source
The ACLU filed a law suit on behalf of 20 of the students back in December 2003 after agreeing with the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
“…the Rev. Jesse Jackson called the drug search a “dragnet driven by race.” The lawsuit, however, does not include charges of racism. “The ACLU shares that concern…” Source
I watched as CNN covered the event from the street in front of the school back in November 2003. This school is less than a mile from my house.
We live in the country of the offended. I have been at the wrong end of a loaded gun more than once in my life. Military (not war related) experiences and less than desirable social circumstances gave me these experiences. I have never felt a need for suing anyone over it. I have not been scared for life as a result. I agree that the tactics used in the search of Stratford High were a little over the top, but compensating the entire campus of 2500 students is a bit extreme of a response.
March 16th, 2006 at 2:43 am
that’s so goofy…search away and if people get caught, i commend the school for taking action…my goodness!
–RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
March 18th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
quote:
“I agree that the tactics used in the search of Stratford High were a little over the top, but compensating the entire campus of 2500 students is a bit extreme of a response”
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Hmmm, if you are I casually pointed a loaded gun at anyone — that would be felony assault.
But if cops do it, you quickly excuse it.
Should everyone obey the law, or should some be above the law ??
March 19th, 2006 at 7:20 pm
Public school is a joke to begin with. I live in a district where a child brought prescription medication to school, gave it out to her friends (most of which threw “their” pill in the trash). ALL of the kids, whether they brought the pills, ingested the pills, or threw the pills away, got expelled from school for 18 months. The students weren’t allowed to even make a phone call to their parents while they were being “interrogated.” Civil law doesn’t seem to apply to the public school system. Something needs to be done!
April 4th, 2006 at 10:07 pm
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