Student who sued over confiscated cell phone loses appeal


The Arkansas Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a high school student who sued his teacher after she confiscated his cell phone, reports the Arkansas News Bureau. Anthony Koch was a student at Sylvan Hills High School in the Pulaski County Special School District when he took a cell phone into a classroom on Sept. 4, 2008, in violation of the student handbook, according to the opinion. Koch’s teacher, Nancy Adams, confiscated the phone. Koch asked if he could remove the phone’s SIM card, which contained personal information, but his request was denied. Adams turned the phone over to the school’s principal, Danny Ebbs, who stored it until Oct. 10, 2008, then sent it by certified mail to Koch’s father. Koch filed a lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court against Adams and Ebbs, alleging that they violated his property rights and his right to due process. He also asked for an injunction to stop the school district from seizing any students’ property. The defendants argued that they acted in accordance with a school policy authorizing the confiscation of cell phones at school. A Pulaski County circuit judge dismissed the case in March 2009, and the state Supreme Court upheld that ruling…

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