News in Brief: A National Roundup

A California school district's policy of using drug-sniffing dogs to search students' lockers, desks, and belongings is being challenged in a federal lawsuit that claims it violates the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The Galt school board voted last year to authorize the searches, which are conducted on a random basis by a private security firm. The lawsuit, filed last month in U.S. District Court in Sacramento, was prompted by a Feb. 6 dog search in a criminal-justice class at Galt High School.

According to the lawsuit, officials ordered students to leave their belongings in the classroom to be searched by a drug-sniffing dog. Senior Jacob Reed objected. He was sent to the office, where a vice principal told the youth that there was reasonable suspicion to search him because he had complained, the suit claims. A second plaintiff, junior Chris Sulamo, was searched after the dog "alerted" to possible drugs in his jacket. No drugs were found on either...