Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Nebraska

Re: Searching

Teachers have the authority to conduct reasonable searches of students, their lockers and belongings. The constitutional standard for assessing the legality of searches

undertaken by school officials was first established by the Supreme Court

in New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 105 S.Ct. 733, 83 L.Ed.2d 720(1985). In reviewing the constitutionality of a search, the Supreme Court

first determined that the Fourth Amendment applies to searches of

schoolchildren conducted by school officials. The Court then noted that the standard of reasonableness governing a class of searches must be determined by "balancing the need

to search against the invasion which the search entails." After weighing students'legitimate expectations of privacy against school officials' need to maintain a proper educational environment, the Court concluded that it

would be improper to "require strict adherence to the requirement that searches be based on probable cause to believe that the subject of the

search has violated or is violating the law." Instead, the Court held that the "legality of a search of a student should depend simply on the reasonableness, under all the circumstances,

of the search."

The T.L.O. Court established a two-pronged test to determine whether a search by school officials is reasonable. If a school official has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence the student has violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school, a search is justified. Second, the scope of a search will be permissible "when the measures adopted are reasonably related to the objectives of the search and not excessively

intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student and the nature of the infraction."

In short, it will depend on the facts. The more particular the suspicion and narrow the search, the more safe it is to assume that the courts will find the search to be reasonable.

For a more definite answer, you should contact an attorney and discuss all the facts.

Bill Jones