Legal Question in Education Law in Indiana

School cell phone ban legality

My school district just placed a new ban on cell phones that allows them to confiscate them until the end of the year if students are seen in possession of them. There's been a minor outcry that giving the schools the power to keep them for so long is borderline illegal.

Are the schools allowed to take phones away for such an extended period of time, or is this perfectly fine?


Asked on 8/16/07, 5:35 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony DeWitt Bartimus, Frickleton Robertson & Gorny, PC

Re: School cell phone ban legality

You raise an interesting question. Absent some statutory authority if a school were to take a phone away from a student and keep it for more than the class period it would be tantamount to an intentional taking of property without compensation, a violation of the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution. I believe the school board can pass rules that govern behavior, but they do not have the ability to pass a rule that deprives a student (or the parent) of the student's property for the entire year.

Get a lawyer and raise hell.

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Answered on 8/16/07, 6:04 pm


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