Legal Features

Cox v. The Sampson County Board of Education

CLINTON, N.C. — Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have sued a North Carolina public school district for allegedly strip-searching a 10-year-old boy, J.C., in search of a $20 bill lost by another student, despite the fact that J.C. twice told school officials he did not have the missing money. The missing money was later found in the school cafeteria. In the complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, Institute attorneys charge that former Union Elementary School Assistant Principal Teresa Holmes violated J.C.’s Fourth Amendment rights when she allegedly ordered the fifth grader to disrobe down to his underwear and subjected him to an aggressive strip-search that included rimming the edge of his underwear. The lawsuit also calls for the Sampson County Board of Education to be held accountable for failing to adequately train employees on the legal restrictions on strip searches of public school students.

The complaint in Cox v. The Sampson County Board of Education is available here.