Constitution
Meridian Sexting Ban Better Suited For Coppers
November 15, 2011 
While well intentioned, a proposed “sexting policy” for the Meridian School District may be better suited for law enforcement. As written, the policy is constitutionally intrusive with potentially illegal searches into student telephones and communication devices.
Rather than the following proposed policy, the District may be better served to have a simple policy stating, “If you send or keep dirty pictures we will call the cops and notify your parents.”
Here is the proposed policy:
Definition of sexting: Sexting is the sending or receiving of sexually explicit or sexually suggestive images or video via a cell phone or electronic device.
1. The possession of sexually explicit images of minors on any device is prohibited.
2. Students involved in sexting (unless they immediately delete the images) may be subject to discipline.
3. Students involved in sexting will have their parents informed and may have police involved in the case.
4. Cell phones will be searched if there is probable cause that a criminal violation has occurred, and may be searched if reasonable suspicion exists that the phone contains evidence of a violation.
5. Any form of harassment related to sexting is strictly forbidden.
The GUARDIAN contacted Boise lawyer John Runft who has a background in constitutional law. He found item#4 to be “troublesome,” noting that teachers and administrators would be placed in a position of acting as police.
“Anything can be searched if there is probable cause and a judge issues a warrant,” said Runft, adding, “Criminal violations are the responsibility of police and it would be reasonable to direct school staff to call police if they suspect a student possesses a device with illegal material on it.”
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Nov 15, 2011, 4:54 pm
And you have 3 last chances to knock it off before we take action.
The policy reads like “weak sauce” to me.
Nov 15, 2011, 6:11 pm
Why are kids allowed to have cell phones in school to begin with? Seems to me they take away a lot of time from attention to what’s going on in the classroom and also a ready made cheating device.
Nov 15, 2011, 6:59 pm
Students have no rights and neither do the parents. The school board said so. Only the schools know what’s best. Starve the Beast!
Nov 15, 2011, 7:39 pm
does the definition of sexting include: http://a4.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/137/078f0fc331cf4c8b9cffce305c4de305/l.jpg
My response to the ban policy:
1: “The possession of sexually explicit images of minors on any device is prohibited.” How do you define “sexually explicate”? Is it kinda like pornography, “you’ll know it when you see it” Just posting a pic of Myllie Cyrus would qualify, and so would all those music videos on the iPhones.
2: “Students involved in sexting (unless they immediately delete the images) may be subject to discipline.” May be subject to discipline? Way to vague to stand up to a legal challenge
3. “Students involved in sexting will have their parents informed and may have police involved in the case.” That would be embarrassing but nothing there is actually punitive.
4. “Cell phones will be searched if there is probable cause that a criminal violation has occurred, and may be searched if reasonable suspicion exists that the phone contains evidence of a violation.” This one is particularly troublesome as it doesn’t outline who is responsible for defining probable cause, which is a legal term even the peace officers often have trouble with. The teachers and administrators in the school district are not LE officers, they are educators.
5. “Any form of harassment related to sexting is strictly forbidden.” Could you really get any more vague than that?
Nov 15, 2011, 8:29 pm
“Feel good” legislation from a school district. Yay!
The search aspect is ridiculous. The deletion of images is potentially criminal if they are evidence of a crime – destruction of evidence.
Nan has it right. Why do they have cell phones at school anyway? When I was a kid we only got one bar inside the school because of all the lead paint. And asbestos…
Regulation aimed at a group that can’t self-regulate and is hormonally unregulatable…
Nov 16, 2011, 6:30 am
I’m glad that the district has solved all of their problems and now have time to invent other issues of morality to intervene in. Nevermind being millions in debt, laying off over a hundred employees, overpaying many, wasting millions in operations, nepotism at the district office etc.
Nov 16, 2011, 7:08 am
I find it very troublesome that the police are to be involved. Criminalizing a kid whose crime is only a lack of good sense by accusing him of poessessin of child pornography is insane.
Nov 16, 2011, 8:35 pm
I can remember when MAD magazines, chewing gum, transistor radios and comic books were confiscated by the teachers. I look back and can only wonder what a copy of PLAYBOY/PLAYGIRL might have resulted in back in the 50’s and 60’s.
Bullying is the big deal in my book and all this other crap is just noise. Kids need to feel safe and secure in a school environment and it is up to the school district to figure out how to make it happen.
Nov 17, 2011, 10:43 am
The latest example of the Meridian school district over-reacting happened yesterday when a kid ripped his shirt reportedly in a playground incident.Those in charge thought the prudent response would be to call the police and lock down the campus! I’m surprised the bomb squad wasn’t dipatched as well. Unbelievable.
EDITOR NOTE– We checked with the school and the kid originally came up with a “whopper” saying there was a guy with a knife that cut his shirt. Unfounded, but the initial response was probably very prudent.
Nov 17, 2011, 3:35 pm
The school should just tell the kids that sexting will make them go blind and possibly grow hair on their palms like they taught us in sex-ed way back when.