SEPTEMBER 2021 | LAW WISE 3
The Fourth Amendment in the Schools Though the Fourth Amendment’s protection of privacy has been one of the most cherished freedoms for the average citizen, this protection has not fully extended to students as recent court decisions demonstrate. What these cases illustrate beyond the tension between security and freedom is how the founders could not have anticipated many of these scenarios central to these cases. Does the right to privacy remain the exclusive domain of adults? The cases presented below trace the thinking of the Supreme Court on this question. New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985) A teacher found T.L.O., a fourteen-year-old girl and student, smoking cigarettes in the high school bathroom. This violated school rules, and the teacher brought the student to an administrator who questioned the student. During the questioning, the administrator accused T.L.O. of lying and demanded to see her purse to find the cigarettes. The administrator found a pack of cigarettes and cigarette rolling papers. Knowing that these rolling papers can be used for marijuana, he suspected T.L.O. might be smoking marijuana too. A further search of T.L.O.’s purse uncovered a bag with a grass-like substance, a pipe, a roll of cash, and notes with other students’ names who appeared to owe T.L.O. money. Based on this evidence, the administrator called the police. T.L.O. and her mother went to the police station where T.L.O. admitted to selling marijuana. Given her age, T.L.O. appeared in Juvenile Court. Despite her lawyer’s attempt to suppress her confession and the evidence from the search on Fourth Amendment grounds, the judge sentenced her to one year of probation. The Appellate Division in New Jersey agreed there had been no Fourth Amendment violation but vacated the initial judgement and sent the case back to Juvenile Court to determine if T.L.O. had voluntarily waived her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. In the appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court, the Court held that the actions of the school administrator did not violate T.L.O.’s Fourth Amendment rights. The Court did decide the administrator overstepped his authority by searching through T.L.O.’s purse since possessing cigarettes did not violate school policy. A desire to show T.L.O. had lied did not justify the full search of her purse.
whether unlawfully seized evidence should be suppressed. Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton (1995) This case involved student athletes in Oregon who school officials discovered using illicit drugs. Concerned about the possibility of this drug use contributing to sports-related injuries, the district adopted a Student Athlete Drug Policy authorizing random urinalysis of student athletes in this district. The district banned James Acton, a football player, from participating in football when he and his parents refused to consent to testing for James. James’ family sued the Vernonia district arguing the drug testing violated James’ Fourth Amendment rights as it was an “unreasonable search.” In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court concluded there was no violation. The majority opinion noted they assessed the search in an attempt at “balancing the intrusion on the individual’s Fourth Amendment interests against the promotion of legitimate governmental interests.” The Court concluded that since the student athletes are under State supervision during school hours, they are under more control than the general population. The Court further concluded the concern over injury outweighed the privacy of these athletes. Safford United School District v. Redding (2009) Based on a tip that she might have ibuprofen, which violated school policy, school officials conducted a strip search of Savana Redding, an eighth grader at Stafford Middle School. Savana filed suit in the District Court for the District of Arizona where the case was dismissed. Savana’s initial appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit was similarly denied. However, in a hearing before the entire Court of Appeals, the court held the school district had violated Savana’s Fourth Amendment rights and the scope of the search and its intrusion was not a reasonable search under the circumstances.
When the case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, the Court held that Fourth Amendment protections do apply in school settings. Furthermore, the Court held that the school’s action in this case did not violate T.L.O.’s Fourth Amendment rights. The Supreme Court did not determine www.ksbar.org/lawwise
