 
Drug-Dog Search in School Ruled Illegal The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that the Sarnia police violated the law when they used a sniffer dog to look for drugs at St. Patrick's High School in November of 2002. Prior to the search, the police had no belief or suspicion that related to any particular student. Indeed, the students were all required to remain in their classrooms for about 2 hours while the dog went sniffing lockers and backpacks that had been left in the gymnasium. When the dog began to bite at a particular backpack, the police opened it and found some taboo drugs. Both the trial court and then the court of appeal disallowed the drug evidence on the grounds that the search and seizure were "unreasonable" within the meaning of the Charter. At the Court hearing, CCLA Special Counsel Jonathan Lisus and Christopher Wayland argued that "a student's backpack should be afforded at least the same degree of respect as an adult's briefcase ... " According to the civil liberties lawyers (as quoted in the Court's decision), a student's backpack is "a portable bedroom and study rolled into one". | CCLA In The Schools | Join Us | Feedback | Search | Other Interesting Sites | Home |
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