NCJ Number
89995
Journal
Journal of Law and Education Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1982) Pages: 41-63
Date Published
1982
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Boards of education, school officials, and police officers should not risk the successful prosecution of student offenders by attempting to circumvent or diminish the probable cause requirement for search and seizures.
Abstract
Faced with increased crime by students in public schools, particularly illicit drug use, school administrators are prone to enforce drug control statutes and administrative rules. This may involve searches of students, their possessions, and their lockers. Although some sympathetic inferior courts have endorsed attempts to circumvent the probable cause standards and the use of warrants for student searches, the U.S. Supreme Court has jealously guarded the warrant requirement and its recognized exceptions. Legal advisors to school officials should be cautious about recommending diluted standards or other attempts to circumvent fourth amendment rights. Such recommendations produce inconsistent results and unsuccessful prosecution of student offenders. The school setting is an advantageous arena for complying with fourth amendment requirements. Under operative compliance policies, school officials should have a record of all the circumstances required to establish probable cause. With this record in hand, a school official could obtain a warrant or in rare cases conduct a warrantless search under recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement. This compliance with probable cause standards should protect a school official's 'proof' from a fourth amendment attack in court while affording the student constitutional protections from unreasonable search and seizure. A total of 115 footnotes are provided.