In a blazing, and somewhat surprising, common sense ruling, the Supreme Court has ruled that a school's strip search of a middle school girl for ibuprofen 6 years ago was in fact illegal:

The Supreme Court ruled by an 8-1 vote Thursday that the strip search of a middle-school girl for prescription-strength ibuprofen violated her privacy rights.

The decision in an Arizona case requires administrators nationwide to weigh more carefully how intrusively they search for drugs.
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A school official must have, Souter wrote, a "reasonable suspicion of danger" regarding the contraband sought and a belief that it could be in the student's underwear before making "the quantum leap from outer clothes and backpacks to exposure of intimate parts."

In October 2003, after obtaining an unverified tip from another student that eighth grader Savana Redding might have ibuprofen and finding none in her backpack, Safford Middle School assistant principal Kerry Wilson asked a school nurse and administration assistant to search Savana in the nurse's office. The two women had Savana take off her shoes and socks, then her shirt and pants. They then directed her to pull out her bra and pull open her panties to see if she was hiding any pills. None were found.
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Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenter. He said the majority opinion "grants judges sweeping authority to second-guess the measures that these officials take to maintain discipline in their schools and ensure the health and safety of the students in their charge."

I blogged about this case a couple years ago.  Clarence Thomas should be absolutely ashamed of himself.  The idea that requiring school administrators to use some basic common sense before humiliating and violating a young girl is too much... well... he has as little common sense in this area as they when the search was performed.  It's important to note, that had the search not been performed at all, the health and safety of students would not have been compromised.  Ibuprofen is a perfectly legal and safe, over the counter drug.

Although I think Thomas should be ashamed, I am not surprised by his ruling.  He very consistently sides with government agencies that act in a law enforcement capacity.  Because the courts rarely throw out charges when searches are performed illegally, the police do not have an incentive to follow the law.  This is a rare instance when our basic freedoms have been protected by the court.  Unfortunately, in a seperate vote, the court also ruled that the administrators could not be held liable.  So one wonders how much protection this ruling will really give.