Student bra search case goes to NC Supreme Court

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Supreme Court is hearing arguments over whether school officials should be allowed to search students' bras for drugs.

A student at an alternative school sued after students had to untuck their shirts and pull out their bras with their thumbs in front of two men in 2008. The searches were done after the principal at Brunswick County Academy received a tip that pills were being brought into the school.

An appeals court ruled last year the searches were "degrading, demeaning and highly intrusive."

The attorney general's office is representing the school. The office says no skin was shown during the search, and students who are assigned to an alternative school because of disciplinary problems have a lesser expectation of privacy than other students.