Pubdate: Thu, 19 Feb 2015
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2015 The Globe and Mail Company
Contact:  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Les Perreaux
Page: A4

QUEBEC TO REVIEW STRIP SEARCHES IN SCHOOLS

Policy draws criticism after 15-year-old girl forced to remove her 
clothing over suspicions she was dealing marijuana

Quebec's Education Minister has ordered an independent review of the 
province's school strip search policy after an uproar over a 
15-year-old girl who was made to remove all her clothes over 
suspicions she was dealing marijuana.

The debate over intrusive searches in Canadian schools had gone 
dormant for a decade after several controversies, lawsuits and a 
Supreme Court case in 2001 that said strip-searching should only be 
done for serious reasons during lawful arrests, preferably at a police station.

The practice burst back to the fore this week after the teenage girl 
in Quebec City said female officials at her school forced her to 
strip so they could go through her clothing looking for drugs while 
she stood naked behind a sheet.

Education Minister Yves Bolduc initially endorsed the practice, 
saying strip searches are allowed if officials conduct the search in 
a reasonable manner. Other Quebec school boards have admitted they 
too have recently resorted to strip searches.

Mr. Bolduc distanced himself from his earlier endorsement Wednesday 
and ordered the review, while Premier Philippe Couillard said the 
facts of the case would be established and the protocol re-examined. 
"This level of search comes as a bit of a surprise to everyone," Mr. 
Couillard told reporters in Quebec City.

Quebec's policy reflects a badly outdated reading of the law and a 
distinct lack of common sense, according to two Ontario lawyers who 
successfully fought the strip search of teenagers by schools and police.

Mr. Bolduc's early language endorsing strip searches was similar to a 
1998 Supreme Court ruling which suggested that students have 
diminished expectations of privacy in school, and that searches could 
be conducted if reasonable grounds exist. However, that ruling 
stopped far short of addressing strip searches.

Another Supreme Court ruling in 2001 dealing with police suggested 
strip searching should be done with great care under limited 
circumstances. That ruling did not directly address searches in 
schools, but it did say: "In light of the serious infringement of 
privacy and personal dignity that is an inevitable consequence of a 
strip search, such searches are only constitutionally valid at common 
law where they are conducted as an incident to a lawful arrest."

The ruling adds the search should be "conducted at the police station 
except where there are exigent circumstances."

David Tanovich, a law professor at the University of Windsor who 
successfully argued the landmark 2001 case, says school officials 
should have kept the student in a supervised room and called police 
"if the school had reasonable grounds to believe the person had drugs 
in their underwear."

In his view, Prof. Tanovich said, "there is no justification for 
strip searches in schools unless there is an extreme emergency. For 
example, if they have reason to believe that the student has a weapon 
secreted in their underwear and the student has refused to provide it 
to the school official."

In 1999, a school in Windsor, Ont., caused an uproar when 19 students 
were told to strip after one of them complained $90 had disappeared 
from his gym bag. Mike Harris, then the Ontario premier, called the 
search repulsive and the students sued.

The lawsuit was eventually settled in "a constructive manner," 
according to Jerry Levitan, the lawyer who represented the Grade 9 
students. "In this day and age, it was true in 1999 and it's true in 
2015: To give school authorities the right to arbitrarily 
strip-search students would offend the vast majority of people."

In 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court found "a reasonable suspicion of 
danger" must exist to permit a school strip search. The court said 
strip searches can have devastating consequences for teenagers, a 
view echoed by Mr. Levitan.

"It's a humiliating experience," he said. "You don't know the 
emotional background of that child, and you have to weigh the 
potential detriment to the child against the danger and threat. My 
advice is, call the police."
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