 
SUPREME COURT ADDRESSES LEGALITY OF DRUG DOG SEARCH IN ONTARIO HIGH SCHOOL
On May 22, 2007 the Supreme Court of Canada heard arguments in the case of A.M., a Sarnia high school student who was charged after the police found drugs in his backpack with the help of a sniffer dog. The police had no reason to believe that drugs would be found in that particular school or in A.M.’s backpack. Some time earlier, they had received a standing invitation from the principal to periodically search the school using the dog. The students were detained in their classrooms while the search took place. The Ontario Superior Court of Justice and Court of Appeal both ruled the search unreasonable, and the Crown appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. CCLA Special Counsel Jonathan Lisus and Christopher Wayland argued that the Charter violations were serious and completely unjustifiable. “The random search and arbitrary detention of the students were bad from the point of view of both law and educational policy,” said Lisus. “It sent to students all the wrong messages about the importance, or lack thereof, of their rights under the Charter.” | CCLA In The Schools | Join Us | Feedback | Search | Other Interesting Sites | Home |
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