NEW YORK — A federal appeals court on Friday reinstated the lawsuit of a former high school student who sued the Connecticut town of Plainville on constitutional grounds after she was strip-searched at school.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it was not persuaded that a strip search of Kelly Phaneuf at Plainville High School on June 7, 2002, was constitutional.
The three-judge panel rejected the analysis of a lower court judge who concluded school officials acted properly after another student claimed Phaneuf possessed marijuana as the students prepared to go on a senior class picnic.
In her lawsuit, Phaneuf asked for unspecified damages, saying she suffered severe physical, mental and emotional injuries during the strip search.
The appeals court wrote that the school acted unreasonably in concluding that it had the authority to conduct a strip search after finding cigarettes in the bag of Phaneuf, who was over the age of 18 at the time.
“The school acted unreasonably in treating all contraband alike,” the court said. “Surely, a discovery of cigarettes cannot alone support a suspicion that a student is carrying a firearm or is bootlegging gin. Without further explanation, the school cannot vault from the finding of one type of commonly used contraband to a suspicion involving the smuggling of another.”
The appeals court returned the case to the district court to reconsider the issues, including whether the defendants were protected by qualified immunity.
“We believe that this case ultimately turns on whether the student tip was sufficient, either by itself or in conjunction with the other factors, to create a reasonable suspicion that Phaneuf possessed marijuana on her person that would justify a strip search,” the court said.
Messages left with a lawyer for Phaneuf and a lawyer representing both Plainville and its board of education were not immediately returned Friday.
In her lawsuit, Phaneuf said school officials coerced her mother into conducting the strip search by threatening to call the police and by not allowing Phaneuf to attend the picnic.
According to the lawsuit, the search was conducted against Phaneuf’s will despite her hysterical pleas, protests and denials that she had marijuana.