From the Many Moron March

[i]Calif. School Sued Over Weapons Searches
6/22/01

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing Locke Senior High School in Los Angeles, Calif., for randomly selecting students and frisking them for weapons, the Los Angeles Times reported June 20. "They take you to a little room they have and they scan you with the machine," said Feliciano Vargas, 18, who was randomly selected while sitting in his English class. "And then they pat you down."

The federal lawsuit contends that the school's search policy violates the students' constitutional rights. The suit was filed on behalf of six students.

While searches are not uncommon in schools in the Los Angeles School District, the ACLU argues that the Locke frisks are too aggressive. Officials search tardy students and walk into classrooms to pat down students chosen on the spot.

"We were told to face the blackboard," recalled Elizabeth Perea. "A school official told us to lift up our arms and open our legs. She patted down our pockets, ankles and pant legs. She told us to untuck our shirts and to turn around. Nobody found anything on any of the students. Nobody explained why they were searching us."

Rev. Ross Wells recently removed his daughter from the school. "They search them for no reason," he said. "They search them for the way they look, for the way they dress."

Kenneth Fowlkes, a Locke social-studies teacher, added, "We've created a jailhouse state of mind on campus. We ought to be focusing on other ways to help these kids."[/i]

My only thought is that the ACLU is on this to support drug abuse rather than protecting the kids bringing weapons to school. Wait - possibly both! Stoned kids with pistols sounds right for the ACLU.