New Jersey v. T.L.O

In New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985) 469 U.S. 325, the United States Supreme Court addressed the constitutionality of student searches by teachers and school officials. A teacher observed a student, T.L.O., smoking in a lavatory, a violation of school rules, and escorted her to the office of the assistant vice-principal, Theodore Choplick. After T.L.O. denied the infraction, Choplick found a pack of cigarettes in her purse. As he removed the cigarettes, he noticed a package of cigarette rolling papers. He suspected that the papers were connected to marijuana use, and a thorough search of the purse confirmed his suspicion. Choplick then notified the police, and T.L.O. was subsequently prosecuted for possession of the contraband. (T.L.O., supra, 469 U.S. at pp. 328-329.) In reviewing the propriety of the search of T.L.O.'s purse, the high court concluded the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution applies to searches of students conducted by public school officials. (T.L.O., supra, 469 U.S. at pp. 333-337.) The court determined that, under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, students have legitimate expectations of privacy in the personal belongings they carry to school. (T.L.O., at p. 339.) The court also emphasized that "even in schools that have been spared the most severe disciplinary problems, the preservation of order and a proper educational environment requires close supervision of schoolchildren, as well as the enforcement of rules against conduct that would be perfectly permissible if undertaken by an adult." (Ibid.) In balancing the competing interests of the school and the student, the court held that teachers and school officials need not obtain a warrant or have probable cause to search a student. "Rather, the legality of a search of a student should depend simply on the reasonableness, under all the circumstances, of the search." (Id. at p. 341.) The reasonableness of a student search must be " 'justified at its inception' " and " '... reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place' . Under ordinary circumstances, a search of a student by a teacher or other school official will be 'justified at its inception' when there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school." (Id. at pp. 341-342.) The United States Supreme Court adopted a reasonable suspicion standard regarding the search of a student by an assistant vice principal. In reaching this conclusion the High Court saw a need to balance ". . . the privacy interests of schoolchildren with the substantial need of teachers and administrators for freedom to maintain order in the schools . . ." (New Jersey v. T.L.O., at 341.) The Justices, however, limited their ruling to ". . . searches carried out by school authorities acting alone and on their own authority . . ." and specifically declined to express any opinion on searches involving law enforcement authorities. (New Jersey v. T. L. O., at 341.)