JUDGE OKS SETTLEMENT FOR STRATFORD POLICE RAID

An estimated 140 Stratford High School students searched during the
school's 2003 police raid could receive individual shares of
settlement funds between $6,000 and $12,000 as soon as September.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Patrick Michael Duffy gave final
approval to the class-action settlement that pitted students and
families affected by the police sweep against Berkeley County School
District officials and the Goose Creek Police Department. The judge
gave preliminary approval to the settlement in April.

The 16-page order handed down Monday calls for a final settlement
figure of $1.6 million, with students eligible to split $1.2 million
of those funds. Students' lawyers will earn the remaining $400,000
under the agreement.

Marlon Kimpson, a lawyer with Motley Rice LLC, the firm that
represented most of the students, said students involved in the drug
sweep must file claims by July 28. A claims administrator appointed by
the court will then evaluate each student's claim and determine which
students are eligible for the funds, Kimpson said.

"Any student who was searched and seized on Nov. 5, 2003, is now
eligible for compensation and they have received notice of that,"
Kimpson said. "It is now incumbent on the students to take action and
have their claim considered."

Photographic evidence determined that about 140 Stratford students
were present when police burst into a school hallway by shouting,
waving guns and forcing some students to the ground. The raid
uncovered no drugs or weapons, and no arrests were made. Longtime
Stratford Principal George McCrackin resigned during the subsequent
media frenzy and took an administrative position with the school district.

Kimpson said the exact amount of compensation from the settlement that
each student will receive depends on the final number of students who
file claims. He said many Motley Rice clients have indicated they plan
to use the money to help pay the costs of college, technical college,
vocational school or other educational opportunities.

Since the raid, both the Berkeley school district and Goose Creek
Police Department have changed their policies for drug sweeps. Kimpson
said he thinks lessons have been learned.

"McCrackin is no longer in charge, the police have agreed to
additional training and school district has vowed to change its
policies with respect to the way they conduct drug raids," Kimpson
said. "You must conduct drug searches according to the U.S.
Constitution. This settlement and this class-action lawsuit is notice
to police officers and school officials across the nation that
students don't shed their constitutional rights merely by entering a
schoolhouse door."