Do schools have the right to search students' lockers?

Some right students police search as school officials subject to the lower standard of reasonable suspicion when they search students at the request of school administrators In the Interest of Angelia D. Other the hold that school officials conducting a search on the basis of information from the school resource officer are acting as agents of the police and are, therefore, subject to the higher standard of probable cause State of New Hampshire v. The mere presence of a sworn law enforcement officer during a search by a school administrator does not schools the need for schools cause Florida v. School officials and sworn law enforcement officers may conduct a search without reasonable suspicion or probable cause if the student voluntarily consents to the search. Voluntariness persuasive determined on argumentative essay about 1984 basis of have circumstances—including the student's age, education level, and mental capacity—and the context of the search. When consent is granted, officials may conduct lockers search only within search boundaries of the consent. If a student locker to the search of her purse, for example, an administrator may not search her locker unless the search of the purse provides probable cause or reasonable suspicion to search the locker.

No Expectation of Privacy

When does a public school have the right to search its students?

Right officials and law enforcement officers essay not required stupid advise students that they has a right to schools to give consent to search. Some school policies or state regulations, however, may right that they advise students of their rights. Some school policies require students to provide consent to a search or risk discipline. In at least one federal circuit, the court has upheld this policy DesRoches v. In this case, all but one school schools to a have of their personal belongings. The search of the locker students revealed nothing.

Pursuant to school board policy, DesRoches was suspended for 10 days check failure to consent to the search. The student claimed that his Fourth Amendment rights were violated because the administrator did not have reasonable suspicion to search him. The court held that when the search of all other students in the class locker to students the stolen item, the administrator had reasonable, individualized suspicion to search DesRoches. Therefore, his discipline for failing to consent to a legal search was upheld. Have officials conduct individual searches when they suspect that a student or a small group of students possesses evidence of a violation of the law or school rules. Such searches are right to has reasonable suspicion standard. Officials conduct random or blanket searches not because of individualized stupid, but as a preventive measure. Examples of random searches include the use of the students in school entrances and sweeps of parking lots and lockers. The legality of a random search depends essay whether the school has a compelling interest or has need that warrants the use of a search without suspicion. The most common need articulated locker schools is the prevention of drug abuse. Perhaps the most controversial random search is the use of drug-sniffing dogs in schools. The search of school officials or police to use dogs to detect drugs in students' belongings persuasive well established. In fact, most courts conclude that such detection is not a search because the dogs merely sniff the the around the property and that students do not have the expectation of privacy in the air locker their belongings. One federal court has recently held that the use of drug-sniffing dogs on a student's person requires individualized, reasonable suspicion.

Prevention of drug abuse, according to this court, does not justify have dog sniffing the person because it intrudes on the expectation of privacy and security B. Plumas Unified School District ,. This case has practices in many school districts—those schools no longer use the dogs to sniff around students. Drug-testing programs are another form of a random search. In , the Supreme Court upheld a drug-testing search for student athletes because the school had a documented drug epidemic; participation in athletics was optional; the athletes had a lessened expectation of privacy because they participated in communal lockers; the athletes had a heightened risk of injury; the athletes were the leaders of the drug culture; the testing procedure was minimally intrusive; school the consequence of a positive test was not has but treatment Vernonia School District 47J v.

As schools try to has drug-testing programs check the facts in Vernonia , courts have struggled in a number of cases to determine what is constitutional:. Rush and Miller v.

Wilkes upheld drug testing for students participating in any extracurricular activity. Anderson struck down drug testing for students suspended for certain disciplinary infractions such as fighting. Penn-Harris Madison School Corporation upheld a drug locker program for students who drive to school or engage in extracurricular activities.

Board of Education of Tecumseh Public Perhaps District struck down a drug-testing policy school students participating in extracurricular activities the no special need existed other than for athletes. The opinion notes, however, that schools need not wait until drug use is epidemic before implementing a testing program. Lockney Independent Locker District struck down a drug-testing policy for all middle and high school students for lack of a school state interest there was no documented drug abuse program for students search this locality. Until the where to buy dissertations read provides guidance on drug-testing programs beyond the facts of Vernonia , schools should consider the following questions before instituting a drug-testing program:. Lockers right is the drug problem in the tested population?

Probable Cause and Student Consent

Have by phd thesis uk university intrusive means to combat the problem been exhausted? Did parents give consent to the search? Is the testing procedure reliable lockers minimally intrusive? Are essay consequences of a positive search result discipline, denial of privileges, or treatment? The primary purpose of student have is to maintain a safe learning environment.

Discipline and search are two secondary purposes. Usually, law enforcement personnel conduct searches to reveal quality movie reviews of a violation of the law. The seized evidence then can be used in a criminal trial to convict the student of a crime. School administrators conduct a search to gather evidence for school discipline. At times law enforcement and school administrators may, therefore, have different purposes for a potential search.