Supreme Court declines to hear suit over high school drug dog search

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an “unlawful search and seizure” case that started three years ago with a drug dog visiting a Central High School classroom.

That is expected to close the door on a lawsuit that involved Springfield Public Schools, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office and a current Springfield City Councilman.

“There is no other legal option,” said Ransom Ellis III, attorney for the 25,000-student district. “This is the end of the road.”

The path down that road started April 22, 2010, when school officials and Greene County sheriff’s deputies used a specially trained dog, Dar, to conduct a quick — and ultimately fruitless — search of Connor Mizer’s third-floor classroom. It was part of a larger sweep of the school building.

Mellony Burlison and her then-husband, City Councilman Doug Burlison, filed a lawsuit — with financial and other support from the Rutherford Institute of Virginia — on behalf of Mizer, Mellony’s son. It alleged the teen’s Fourth Amendment rights against “unlawful search and seizure” were violated.

No reason was given for why the case wouldn’t be heard by the highest court.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20131009/NEWS01/310090022/supreme-court-central-high-school-lawsuit-connor-mizer?gcheck=1