Using Laptops to Spy on HS Students?

I heard this report on NPR today in the car about a federal lawsuit filed in Philadelphia by a high school student who claims the teachers at his school were spying on him remotely from the webcam in his school-issued laptop. They accused him of selling prescription drugs based on a picture from the webcam that was taken while he was in his bedroom (the 'drugs' were actually Mike & Ike candies and the school, of course, denies that they were spying).

I think it will be interesting to see what a court rules in this case...so often legislation lags behind technology.