NCJ Number
101031
Journal
Juvenile and Family Court Journal Volume: 37 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1985-1986) Pages: 27-37
Date Published
1986
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study reviews the implications and probable impact of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in T.L.O. v. New Jersey (1985), which held that a search by school officials can be constitutionally initiated based on reasonable suspicion that a student is concealing evidence of a crime.
Abstract
The Court held that the traditional warrant requirement would interfere with the maintenance of school discipline and that the usual probable cause requirement is inappropriate for searches of students by school officials. In reaching this decision, the Court majority set students' privacy interests against the school's interest in maintaining order and discipline. The search's level of intrusiveness apparently played little part in the majority's balancing process. This balancing test goes further than the Court has gone before in integrating the exception to the probable cause standard into its fourth amendment analysis, thus making it more of a rule and less of an exception. The Court is apparently placing great emphasis on the State's need to maintain order and combat lawlessness, with less emphasis given to citizens' privacy rights. Future court decisions will indicate how far the State may go in fighting lawlessness before privacy rights are violated. 92 notes.