NCJ Number
203227
Journal
Criminal Justice Review Volume: 28 Issue: 2 Dated: Autumn 2003 Pages: 336-354
Date Published
2003
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Using information from academic and journalistic sources, this article examines the increasingly restrictive security measures in public schools and the reluctance of the courts to protect the basic Fourth Amendment rights of students.
Abstract
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that students in public schools are entitled to protection under the Fourth Amendment; however, the cases reported in this article show that support for students' fourth amendment rights among the Nation's courts has eroded under the influence of public anxiety over drugs and violence in the educational setting. As a result, few Fourth Amendment protections remain to shield students from police searches and suspicionless drug testing in schools. Instead of holding police to the probable cause standard, courts have lowered the search threshold for police and school resource officers and expanded the authority of school officials to test students for drugs. In response to concerns about violence and disorder in public schools, State appellate courts have adopted a new "get tough" version of in loco parentis that empowers police to search students without probable cause under the "special needs" rationale. Increasingly, the school setting, like a prison, is becoming a constitutional "free zone" where the language of the fourth amendment still technically applies, but any search and seizure will be upheld as reasonable and therefore constitutional. Also, many forms of student misconduct that teachers and school administrators once handled informally now result in automatic suspension or expulsion from school or in arrest and court referral. The result for students is the "worst of both worlds," in that harsh penalties are dispensed for even minor misbehavior without adequate fourth amendment protection. Suggestions are offered for future research. 2 tables and 117 references