NCJ Number
143881
Date Published
1993
Length
210 pages
Annotation
This handbook is a comprehensive guide to the constitutional rules governing how and when school officials may search the person or property of a student and when they may seize contraband from a student.
Abstract
It begins with a general overview of the requirements of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as it has been interpreted by the courts. Citations to cases are included. The discussion of school searches begins with the Supreme Court's decision in New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325 (1985). In this case, the Court found that public school children are not entitled to the full protection of the Fourth Amendment. Some of the highlights of the guide include: a chapter dealing with the use of urinalysis to search test for drugs and the factors that make such testing programs constitutional or unconstitutional, a chapter focusing on civil litigation that has been brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983 as a result of illegal searches and seizures, and a discussion of how the States have interpreted New Jersey v. T.L.O. and the standards they have adopted. Sample report forms and a table of cases are provided. 1 table