( CNN ) -- The case of a 13-year-old Arizona girl strip-searched by school officials looking for ibuprofen pain-reliever will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court this week . The Supreme Court has a mixed record when it comes to students ' rights . The justices in January accepted the Safford school district case for review , and will decide whether a campus setting gives school administrators greater discretion to control students suspected of illegal activity than police are allowed in cases involving adults in general public spaces . The case is centered around Savana Redding , now 19 , who in 2003 was an eighth-grade honors student at Safford Middle School , about 127 miles from Tucson , Arizona . Redding was strip-searched by school officials after a fellow student accused her of providing prescription-strength ibuprofen pills . The school has a zero-tolerance policy for all prescription and over-the-counter medication , including the ibuprofen , without prior written permission . `` In this case , the United States Supreme Court will decide how easy it is for school officials to strip search your child , '' Adam Wolf , an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who is representing Redding , told CNN Radio on Sunday . Wolf told CNN Radio his client was traumatized by the search . `` School officials undoubtedly have difficult jobs , but sometimes they overreact -- and this was just a clear overreaction , '' he said . Redding was pulled from class by a male vice principal , escorted to an office , where she denied the accusations . A search of Redding 's backpack found nothing . Then , although she never had prior disciplinary problems , a strip search was conducted with the help of a school nurse and Wilson 's assistant , both females . According to court records , she was ordered to strip to her underwear and her bra was pulled out . Again , no drugs were found . In an affidavit , Redding said , `` The strip search was the most humiliating experience I have ever had . I held my head down so that they could not see that I was about to cry . '' At issue is whether school administrators are constitutionally barred from conducting searches of students investigated for possessing or dealing drugs that are banned on campus . A federal appeals court found the search `` traumatizing '' and illegal . Some parents say older children deserve the same constitutional rights as adults , but educators counter a school setting has always been treated differently by courts , and a ruling against them could jeopardize campus safety . While a federal magistrate and a three-panel appeals court found the search was reasonable , the full 9th U.S . Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Redding last year . `` Common sense informs us , '' wrote the court , `` that directing a 13-year-old girl to remove her clothes , partially revealing her breasts and pelvic area , for allegedly possessing ibuprofen ... was excessively intrusive . '' The court said the school went too far in its effort to create a drug- and crime-free classroom . `` The overzealousness of school administrators in efforts to protect students has the tragic impact of traumatizing those they claim to serve . And all this to find prescription-strength ibuprofen . '' In its appeal to the Supreme Court , the school district said restrictions on conducting student searches would cast a `` roadblock to the kind of swift and effective response that is too often needed to protect the very safety of students , particularly from the threats posed by drugs and weapons . '' School officials said the court was `` wholly uninformed about a disturbing new trend '' -- the abuse of over-the-counter medication by teenagers . The high court has a mixed record over the years on students ' rights . In a famous 1969 ruling , the justices said students do not `` shed their constitutional rights ... at the schoolhouse gate . '' But decisions in the 1980s gave administrators greater discretion , including one case that said officials need not be required to have a warrant to search a student 's locker . Such a search was permitted if there were `` reasonable '' grounds for believing it would turn up evidence and when the search was not `` excessively intrusive . '' Opinions in 1995 and 2001 allowed schools to conduct random drug testing of high school athletes , and those participating in other extracurricular activities . And in a well-publicized 2007 ruling from Alaska , the Supreme Court upheld the suspension of a student who displayed a large `` Bong Hits 4 Jesus '' banner at an off-campus , but school-sponsored , event . The decision did not endorse a broader argument that students in general have limited free-speech rights when they interfere with a school 's vaguely defined `` educational mission . '' The court could now be asked to clarify the extent of student rights involving searches , and the discretion of officials regarding those they have responsibility over . The case is Safford United School District No . 1 v. Redding ( 08-479 ) .
The justices in January accepted the Safford school district case for review . Justices will decide if campus gives administrators greater discretion . Administrators strip-searched honor student , 13 , looking for ibuprofen . The court could now be asked to clarify the extent of student rights involving searches .