TRI In The News

Burlisons File Suit over School Search

From The Springfield News-Leader
Original article by Cory De Vera available here.

Springfield City Councilman Doug Burlison and his wife, Mellony, have filed a lawsuit against Springfield Public Schools and the Greene County sheriff.

It alleges the practice of having dogs and law enforcement officials search student belongings when officials have no specific suspicion against a student violates student privacy and constitutional rights.

"Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the gates of the schoolhouse and they do not forfeit their right to protections of the Fourth Amendment by attending public schools," the suit says.

The lawsuit stems from a lockdown and search that took place at Central High during third period April 22.

The Burlisons have a son (not named in the suit), whose classroom was cleared of students so items they were told to leave behind -- like backpacks and purses -- could be searched for drugs or other contraband. The Burlisons also have a daughter who was unable to enter the school during the search.

In addition to searches that took place in classrooms, the lawsuit says dogs were guided through hallways to examine lockers and students throughout the school.

If a dog alerted on a student, the suit says, police seized students and conducted a full search.

The lawsuit seeks to stop future lockdowns and suspicionless searches.

Such practices "flagrantly disregard the privacy and constitutional rights of these students and undermine the American democratic form of government," the lawsuit said.

The suit also seeks "actual and nominal damages" on behalf of the son for the deprivation of his constitutional rights.

A few days after the search, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter of complaint to the school district on behalf of the Burlisons. Doug Burlison also made a statement at the June 15 school board meeting, but, according to the lawsuit, "no member made any statement in response."

In addition to Sheriff Jim Arnott, the suit individually names Springfield Superintendent Norm Ridder and Central High Principal Ron Snodgrass.

Ransom Ellis III, attorney for Springfield Public Schools, said he was surprised to see the lawsuit.

"There are a number of 8th Circuit Court of Appeals cases that support the conduct of the school district," said Ellis. "I don't see any violation of law whatsoever on the school district's part."

Ellis said after concerns were raised, the district did review the practice and actually became more convinced it was doing nothing wrong. The district did update some internal written procedures to make it more clear that dogs used in the searches would not sniff students, even though, said Ellis, the dogs were not sniffing at students.

In an opinion piece Doug and Mellony Burlison wrote that appeared in the News-Leader on May 1, they wrote, "Our objection is not because we have anything to hide, because our kids do not use drugs. We do not support minors using, possessing or selling drugs, so that is also not the reason for our disapproval."

No contraband was found with their children, Doug said.

Ellis said back in April that contraband was found during the search, but he would not detail what kind. No students from Central were arrested, he said.

The Burlisons are now represented by local attorney Jason Umbarger, on behalf of the Rutherford Institute, a Virginia-based organization founded in 1982 that provides free legal services to people whose constitutional rights have been threatened or violated.

Arnott is represented by attorney Theodore Johnson III.

A spokesperson from his firm said he had not yet seen the lawsuit.