COURT WON'T SUPPORT LOCKER DRUG SEARCHES

Dear editor,

I am glad to see that there are, "Doubts expressed about drug-sniffing dog"
(July 29, 2001).

It is about time that a parent advisory group expressed some concerns about
childrens' rights and not those of libelous parents who can not get their
children into their choice of schools. What I have not seen is any concern
about whether anybody is concerned about the constitutional rights of these
kids. The search for drugs should not outweigh the rights of these individuals.

The wrong message is being sent when an armed officer with a trained attack
dog is allowed to wander through our childrens' schools. I for one will be
certain to inform my child that she has a right to leave school if such a
violation of her rights is about to occur.

In no other situation would such measures be permitted. It is only because
these are minors that this situation is even considered. How would the
teachers' union react if they started searching teachers' cars as they
entered the school grounds? It is just as fair to search the teachers as it
is the kids. After Gator is done at the school he could head over to the
School District 79 offices and search all the trustees. I think that this
would be as useful. Maybe the dog should head down to the playschool and
harass small children, and scare them when they are really young. That
would teach them a lesson.

What is the issue here anyway? Drugs may be a problem in the schools, but
does this end justify the means? The courts really are not on the side of
the RCMP on this one. The simple proof of this was found two pages earlier
in the paper, "Judge says Bam ice cream lid not enough to convict" (July
29, 2001). Two guys are found with 19 garbage bags full of marijuana in the
back of their truck. One pleads guilty and gets off with a suspended
sentence. The other is fully acquitted after he claims he knows nothing
about it and none of it is his. The judge could not throw the case out fast
enough.

Think about how much room 19 bags of marijuana takes up. A few bags of yard
clippings overwhelms me, try to imagine 19 bags. I was going to say "grass"
clippings but I am not sure that I want the dog squad kicking in my front door.

If the courts cannot be bothered about this, why do we have to subject our
kids to such a random invasion of their privacy? What this tells us is that
it should be all right to have 18 to 19 garbage bags of dope in our cars.
Just plead ignorance if caught. Whatever you do though, don't put them in
your locker at school because Gator will get you.

- -Paul Spencer
Duncan