William Kritsonis, School Law, Ch 9 Drugs Student Searches

1
Students Searches

• Are They Legal in Public Schools?
• William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

2
Fourth Amendment

• "the right of the people to be secure in their
  persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
  unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
  violated...."
• This was the amendment that protected people from
  unreasonable search and seizures, including
  public school students.

3
New Jersey v. T.L.O.,

• T.L.O. and a friend were accused of violating
  school rules by smoking cigarettes in a school
  lavatory, the latter, who admitted to smoking,
  was not brought to the office for a search. The
  Supreme Court of New Jersey decreed that the
  search of T.L.O.'s purse violated the Fourth
  Amendment. On appeal, in New Jersey v. T.L.O.,
  the Supreme Court reversed in favor of the State
  of New Jersey (Russo).
• This was the case that laid the basic principles
  for student searches.

4
2 standards used in the T.L.O. Case

• School officials must establish reasonable cause
  for believing that the student is violating or
  has violated a student rule or a law.
• They must make sure that the search conducted is
  reasonable in scope in light of the age and sex
  of the student and the nature of the offense.

5
Guidelines for Student Searches

• A school official may search the person of a
  student if the school official has reasonable
  grounds to believe that the student is in
  possession of contraband.
• Search of the person shall be limited to the
  student's pockets, any object in the student's
  possession such as a purse, briefcase or
  backpack, and/or a "pat down" of the exterior of
  the student's clothing.
• Searches of the person shall be conducted out of
  the presence of other students and as privately
  as possible. At least one, but not more than
  three additional persons of the same sex as the
  student being searched shall witness but not
  participate in the search.
• The parent/guardian of any student searched shall
  be notified of the search as soon as reasonably
  possible.

6
Locker and Desks Searches

• A locker search is simply the act of opening a
  locker and looking through its contents. 
  Depending on the state, administration may choose
  to search one, several or all lockers.  The
  search may begin when a drug dog indicates that
  there may be some contraband such as drugs in the
  locker, when a student reports concern of what
  another student may have in his locker, or when
  the administration calls for a random search.

7
Sniffer Dogs

• Sniffer dogs can be used if they are sufficiently
  reliable to indicate reasonable suspicion that
  contraband is present.
• Horton v. Goose Creek the court established that
  dogs could sniff students' cars and lockers, but
  could not sniff the students themselves for
  drugs.

8
Horton v. Goose Creek ISD

• In 1978 the Goose Creek Independent School
  District in Texas brought in drug-sniffing dogs
  in an attempt to deal with a rampant drug and
  alcohol problem. The dogs were trained to detect
  more than 60 different controlled and
  over-the-counter substances. On an unannounced
  and random basis, dogs were taken to all of the
  schools in the district to sniff the students'
  lockers and cars and were brought into the
  classrooms to sniff the students themselves. If a
  dog indicated that a car or locker had an illegal
  substance, the student was required to open the
  locker or vehicle for a search. If the dog
  indicated a student was carrying an illegal
  substance, he or she was brought into the school
  office to be searched.

9
Drug Testing

• Due to the personal intrusiveness of a drug test
  it is looked upon as a search.
• Students athletes are subject to random drug
  tests.
• Vernonia School District v. Acton was the case
  law that laid down the guidelines for drug
  testing.

10
Board of Education of Pottawatomie v. Earls

• The Student Activities Drug Testing Policy
  implemented by Pottawatomie County School
  District requires all students who participate in
  competitive extracurricular activities to submit
  to drug testing. This policy reasonably serves
  the school district's important interest in
  detecting and preventing drug use among its
  students, therefore the court held it as
  constitutional.

11
Metal Detectors

• These devices are permissible in schools for
  student searches.
• These devices are also used doing
  extra-curricular activities.
• Students and parents must be notified that random
  student searches will occur.

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Conclusion

• Student searches are permissible as long as
  students Fourth Amendment rights are not
  violated.
• Parents and students should be aware of random
  searches through the student code of conduct.
• School officials have a responsibility to keep
  safe and secure environments for students and
  falculty.