Term Paper on "Constitutionality of Search and Seizure in Schools"

Term Paper 3 pages (1017 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

constitutionality of searches and seizures in school. The writer explores a hypothetical case and applies real life cases to the argument that the search of the hypothetical student was illegal. There were three sources used to complete this paper.

To Whom it May Concern,

As you know, we have been retained to represent the defendant in the recent New Jersey case in which a student was searched and arrested when a cocaine pipe was found in her coat pocket. As we prepare her defense against this charge there are several issues that come into play as we prepare her defense.

The most important issue is whether or not the search was legal. It is my opinion that it was not. It clearly violates the fourth amendment of the United States Constitution that protects people from unreasonable search and seizure.

The second issue surrounding the search is the fact that the school issued a directive for the officers to search all incoming book bags. It also provided a metal detector for the purpose of waving it near students who were suspected of having metal contraband on their person.

In this case the officer did not use a wand to discover the pipe in the student's pocket. He instead conducted a personal search and upon patting her coat pockets located a metal object that was later determined to be a pipe.

The third issue surrounding the search is the fruit that was located within the pipe. Testing of the substance proved it to be cocaine.

The final issue surrounding the search is the issue of school searches and whether or not students have the right to expect privacy or whether schools are acting as the student's parents during school hours, therefore allowed to search without reasonable cause (Czubaj, 1995).

In ranking the issues that surround the defendant's case I would place the invasion of privacy as the most important and the most likely to allow the exclusion of all evidence obtained from that search.

Several courts have ruled that students have the right to expect reasonable privacy when it comes to the search of their person or their closed items such as purses.

In the case of Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 24-25 (1967), the lower court initially upheld the search and therefore all evidence found from the search, however, the Supreme Court later ruled the search illegal. The judges ruled that searching closed items and the person is an intrusion from which the fourth amendment protects each individual. The court further ruled that though schools have a recognized need to have some flexibility so that a continued atmosphere conducive to education can be maintained, it is important to recognize and maintain student privacy as well (T.L.O. v N.J. (http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/NewJersey/).

The second through fourth ranking of the issues would include (2) the officer's claim that the student appeared to be under the influence of drugs. In the report that discusses what lead to the arrest I see no evidence that the student was behaving in a manner… READ MORE

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