In this case, a thirteen year old student was subjected to being strip-searched after another student accused her of distributing prescription-strength Ibuprofin. One of the legal issues is... does the Fourth Amendment prohibit school officials from strip searching students suspected of possessing drugs in violation of school policy?
In essence - the justices will have to decide whether strip-searching under those circumstances constitute an unreasonable search.
For some justices, what constitutes "reasonable" will possibly be informed by normal human experience. This quickly degraded into hypothetical involving drugs being possibly hidden in underwear, and then whether it was reasonable human experience to have to remove one's clothing in school.
During one particular line of questioning during oral arguments, Justice Stephen Breyer remarked:
"So what am I supposed to do? In my experience when I was 8 or 10 or 12 years old, you know, we did take our clothes off once a day, we changed for gym, okay? And in my experience, too, people did sometimes stick things in my underwear--"
(Laughter erupts in the courtroom), but Justice Breyer resumes:
"Or not my underwear. Whatever. Whatever. I was the one who did it? I don't know. I mean, I don't think it's beyond human experience, not beyond human experience."
I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. I think Justice Breyer was bullied as a child when he grew up in San Francisco (or maybe the kids just played a lot of kinky games in the locker room). So folks... tell your kids not to bully kids in school, their victims could one day become an esteemed Justice in the Supreme Court of the United States!
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