SUPREME COURT SET TO RULE ON RIGHT TO SEARCH STUDENTS

OTTAWA -- When Michael Cadue called in the Mounties to search a
student for drugs at a school dance, the Halifax vice-principal
ignited a battle that is about to be settled in Canada's top court.

The Supreme Court ruling, which will be handed down on Thursday, is
expected to set limits for how far teachers and principals can go in
the war against drugs and weapons in Canada's schools.

``We have to have guidelines to be able to run our schools properly
and that's the importance of this decision,'' Cadue said.

``I want them to come down very hard or else we're in
trouble.''

The court ruling is expected to lead to school board policies for when
students can be searched on school premises and how much privacy
they're entitled to.

The case involves a former junior high school student who was 13 years
old when he was searched at a school dance in October 1995 and caught
with a cellophane bag of marijuana in his sock.

Cadue was tipped off by other students before he summoned the Mountie
to the affluent George P. Vanier high school on the outskirts of Halifax.

The teenager, an alleged drug dealer, was acquitted on charges of
possession of marijuana at his trial by a judge who ruled the boy was
not informed of his legal rights when he was arrested.

But the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ordered a new trial when it
overturned the earlier ruling last year in a decision that endorses a
zero-tolerance policy.

``The interests of society are clearly advanced by the maintenance of
a strong, orderly education system,'' said the court.

``Unfortunately the times dictated that young people attending schools
required, and continue to require, protection from those who wish to
traffic in drugs.''

The Supreme Court heard the teen's appeal last June.

The federal government, which is involved because it prosecutes drug
charges, implored the court to set standards that will allow students
to be searched even if teachers or principals have only a reasonable
suspicion they will find drugs or weapons.

Administrators have a responsibility to children in their care and
that sometimes includes taking quick action in the fight to keep drugs
out of schools, argued federal lawyer Ivan Whitehall.

He suggested several hypothetical scenarios in which quick searches
might be necessary. One example would be if a student is found
bleeding from a gash on the face and says he was cut by another
student standing nearby.

But Mona Lynch, the teen's lawyer, argued that students shouldn't be
reduced to second-class citizens.

``Schools are not analogous to either prisons or border crossings,''
Lynch argued in a court submission.

``(The student) did not give up his right to privacy and other legal
rights by virtue of his enrolment in school.''

A similar case is currently before the Manitoba Court of Appeal, which
is being asked to overturn a lower court ruling that students do not
have complete privacy at school and their lockers can be searched by
staff.

The Manitoba court is awaiting the Supreme Court ruling before handing
down a decision.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry