# Brian Cornfield, a Minor, by His Mother and Next Friend, Janet Lewis v. Consolidated High School District No. 230, Richard Spencer, and James Frye > Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit · April 23, 1993 · 991 F.2d 1316 URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9484178 ## Case - **Full name:** Brian CORNFIELD, a Minor, by His Mother and Next Friend, Janet LEWIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CONSOLIDATED HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 230, Richard Spencer, and James Frye, Defendants-Appellees - **Court:** Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit - **Decided:** April 23, 1993 - **Citations:** 991 F.2d 1316; 1993 U.S. App. LEXIS 9114; 1993 WL 127380 - **Precedential status:** Published - **Opinion:** Concurrence by Easterbrook - **Judges:** Flaum, Easterbrook, Wood - **Cited by:** 279 later opinions in the Frix Law Library ## Citator (automated) - No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases. - Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9484178 ## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction) - explaining that liability must be “based on a finding that the policymakers have actual or constructive notice [of] a particular omission that is likely to result in constitutional violations,” which avoids the risk of “creating de facto respondeat superior liability” (citing … - stating that a practice of committing disciplin- ary matters to the discretion of a subordinate in a school system argu- ably "could result in the actions of the subordinate, however conducted, being municipal policy as long as the official is acting 14 within the scope of his… - stating that a practice of committing disciplinary matters to the discretion of a subordinate in a school system arguably “could result in the actions of the subordinate, however conducted, being municipal policy as long as the official is acting within the scope of his or her… - finding that Doe did not clearly establish the unconstitutionally of strip searches of students, and “[b]ecause Corn field has not succeeded in placing the actions taken by Spencer and Frye outside a ‘clearly established’ constitutional norm, they are entitled to qualified imm… - holding strip search of high school student based on reasonable suspicion that he possessed drugs does not violate Fourth Amendment, while making clear that a "a highly intrusive search in response to a minor infraction” would be unconstitutional under T.L.O. ## Opinion text EASTERBROOK, Circuit Judge, concurring. Parts I.A and I.B of the court’s opinion show convincingly that defendants Spencer and Frye did not violate Cornfield’s rights. I join these portions of the opinion. The discussions of qualified immunity and municipal liability in Parts I.C and II are unnecessary, and I do not join them. Because Spencer and Frye did no wrong this case is over, and the opinion should end with that conclusion. Spencer and Frye presented a defense of qualified immunity because they wanted to avoid paying damages were we to agree with Cornfield on the merits. Cornfield argued that Spencer and Frye were following or had set a municipal “policy” because he wanted a deep pocket from which to collect damages were we to hold the search unconstitutional. Both of these subjects lose their significance once we conclude, as we have, that the individual defendants respected Cornfield’s constitutional rights. Having made the litigants’ contentions irrelevant, we should withhold comment. Our views about these subjects are advisory — pertinent to some other case, perhaps, but inconsequential to this one. That the parties have mooted a subject that turns out to be irrelevant is neither reason nor authority for judicial exegesis on the matter. --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9484178. Public record. Not legal advice.