Contact: Brad Dacus, President , Pacific Justice Institute, 916-857-6900

NEVADA CITY, Calif., Feb. 10 /Standard Newswire/ -- A lawsuit has been filed against the Nevada City School District after a counselor forced a student to take a pregnancy test at school without her parents' knowledge or consent.  The student is represented by affiliate and staff attorneys of Pacific Justice Institute.

In late March, 2008, Steve Davis, a counselor at Seven Hills Middle School, pulled the student, C.R., (whose name is being kept confidential) out of class.  Mr. Davis had heard rumors spread by another student that C.R. was pregnant and demanded to know whether it was true.  C.R. denied she was pregnant and noted that false rumors had been spread about her in the past.  Instead of accepting C.R.'s denial, or contacting her parents, the counselor got a pregnancy test from the school nurse and ordered C.R. into a bathroom to give a urine sample.  Feeling that she did not have a choice, C.R. reluctantly complied.  The test was negative.  C.R. was embarrassed and humiliated.  When she later told her parents about the incident, they were livid.  Even after the fact, the school never communicated with C.R.'s parents about the pregnancy test.

C.R.'s family contacted Troy Vahidi, an affiliate attorney of Pacific Justice Institute.  Troy and PJI staff attorneys sought an apology from the school district, to no avail.  The lawsuit, filed in Nevada County Superior Court, seeks damages for violation of C.R,'s right to privacy, as well as emotional distress.  In filing the lawsuit, Mr. Vahidi commented, "The school counselor had no right to force an emotionally fragile twelve-year-old to take a pregnancy test.  She was humiliated, and her privacy rights were trampled.  Every minor has the right to make sensitive decisions such as taking a pregnancy test in consultation with her parents and medical providers."

Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, agreed.  "Parents have enough to worry about with sex education being taught in public schools without now having to now wonder whether their daughters will be forced to take pregnancy tests.  This was a clear breach of parental trust."

About The Pacific Justice Institute:  Pacific Justice Institute is a non-profit 501(c)(3) legal defense organization specializing in the defense of religious freedom, parental rights, and other civil liberties. Pacific Justice Institute works diligently, without charge, to provide their clients with all the legal support they need.  Pacific Justice Institute's strategy is to coordinate and oversee large numbers of concurrent court actions through a network of over 1,000 affiliate attorneys nationwide. And, according to former US Attorney General Edwin Meese, "The Institute fills a critical need for those whose civil liberties are threatened." "Through our dedicated attorneys and supporters, we defend the rights of countless individuals, families and churches... without charge."

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