SCHOOL DRUG RAID A TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE

Parents, school officials and the South Carolina State Law Enforcement
Division are still dissecting the drug raid on Stratford High School last
week where police officers randomly bound many students at gunpoint. They
should. The incident is a travesty of justice and contrary to all tenets of
civil liberty.

Goose Creek is a town in Berkeley County, not far from Charleston.
Stratford High has about 2,700 students.

The drug sweep was initiated by the principal who said surveillance had
revealed an uncommon amount of traffic at one or more of the schools rest
rooms. Stratford High has approximately 70 cameras monitoring students,
staff and visitors. The principal concluded there might be drug dealing
going on.

However, school officials had no concrete evidence of drug dealing. Neither
were there any suspects targeted in the drug sweep in spite of the school's
highly visible and seemingly thorough surveillance.

Police came in with a drug-sniffing dog and their pistols drawn. Students
were forced to lay on the floor or lean spread-eagled on desks or tables
while their belongings were searched and they were frisked. Guns were
pointed at many students, even though they were not identified as possible
drug suspects. Many were restrained with plastic handcuffs.

According to the Post and Courier of Charleston, students were scared and
shocked at the treatment by police. Students interviewed by the newspaper
said the searches were random, but every student was affected by the raid.

School officials maintain there was nothing wrong with the operation, and
police say they acted properly. Students and their parents see it differently.

They view the raid as unwarranted because there were no suspects or hard
evidence to justify holding teenagers at gunpoint. Add to that the fact
that no arrests were made, no interviews conducted and no drugs found and
the fiasco appears to be little more than a strong-arm exercise designed to
alarm the student body.

The raid should raise a red flag. The civil liberty violations are obvious.
A similar sweep conducted on such flimsy rationale in a public building or
workplace would not be tolerated by adults. Most people correctly believe
raids and searches must be based on reasonable evidence that a crime is
being committed or planned.

We're not sure what the police thought they would encounter that they had
to storm the school with guns at the ready. From all accounts, Stratford is
a quiet school. The students don't have the reputation for running around
armed to the teeth, prepared for shootouts with cops.

South Carolina's SLED (the counterpart to North Carolina's SBI) is
investigating the incident. Some parents and groups such as the American
Civil Liberties Union are threatening litigation. School officials say the
raid was probably overdone and methods will be changed for future drug sweeps.

We must contend that random raids like the one last week constitute
unreasonable searches. Without evidence, without a pattern of wrongdoing,
there is no justification for lining up an entire student body and giving
the kids the shakedown. Exclude the drawn pistols, and the raid is still
unwarranted, given the circumstances.

But, it seems that all anyone needs to say is "drugs," "weapons," or
"students" and civil liberty is rendered meaningless and due process
happily mangled.

The Stratford High raid is no different than picking out a city street,
yanking around motorists and pedestrians at gunpoint, and handcuffing them
while they're being frisked and their belongings searched. Just because
somebody believes some sort of criminal activity might be uncovered.
Citizens would not stand for such treatment.

We shouldn't allow our children to be treated that way, either.

Present the evidence and nail the suspects. Those are good rules. But don't
panic an entire student body with a wild goose chase and call it security
or justice. The Stratford High raid was neither.