Claudette Riley reports:
[..]
The Burlisons, with help from the Rutherford Institute of Virginia, brought a lawsuit against Springfield Public Schools and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office that also named Superintendent Norm Ridder, Sheriff Jim Arnott and Central Principal Ron Snodgrass. The suit alleged Mizer’s Fourth Amendment rights against “unlawful search and seizure” were violated.
The late U.S. District Judge Richard E. Dorr found in favor of the district and sheriff’s office “on all counts.” Dorr’s decision to dismiss the case was later upheld by a panel of three judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Despite those defeats, Mizer and the Burlisons are now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to “review the district policy of mass searches without warrant or individualized suspicion,” said Jason Umbarger, the local attorney working with the family.
Read more on News-Leader.com.
The district has won all rounds, but it appears that there’s still an open question as to whether the student’s backpack was “seized” when he was separated from it.