Strip Search Ruled Illegal, But Supreme Court Remains Divided

The Supreme Court has issued a ruling that, when school officials conducted a strip search of a 13 year old girl in the hopes of finding ibuprofen, they crossed the line. Still, in a divided opinion, the ruling bars the student from seeking any damages from the school.


It was after hearing her fellow judges' questions during this case that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, currently the only woman on the Supreme Court's bench, told USA Today that it was clear to her that they needed more women on the court. Said Ginsburg, "They have never been a 13-year-old girl. It's a very sensitive age for a girl. I didn't think that my colleagues, some of them, quite understood."

Among the exchanges that Ginsburg may have been referring to was a question from Justice Stephen Breyer. Via Bloomberg, a clearly miffed Breyer had asked the girl's attorney, "Why is this a major thing to say, 'Strip down to your underclothing'? How bad is this -- underclothes?" Ginsburg's quick response was to note that it went beyond that. "They were asked to shake their bra out," said Ginsburg, "to stretch the top of their pants and shake that out."

As Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor gears up to go through the tough nomination process, this ruling -- and Ginsburg's clear frustration -- point out the importance of having a variety of life experiences on the bench of the High Court, and that one woman out of nine Justices is not enough. Ginsburg cast a dissenting opinion to the portion of the ruling that prohibited the victim from seeking damages, in which she was joined by only one other judge, Justice John Paul Stevens.