NCJ Number
171790
Journal
Valparaiso University Law Review Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1997) Pages: 721-785
Date Published
1997
Length
65 pages
Annotation
This paper provides school districts that want to implement a drug-testing policy a set of guidelines that will enable them to curb drug use to provide a safe education environment while protecting the students' constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.
Abstract
Section II of the paper provides an overview of the Fourth Amendment, as it sets the constitutional context in which drug- testing policies are scrutinized by discussing the development of the administrative search and its application to drug testing in the employment sector. This section also traces the evolution of the Fourth Amendment's special-needs exception and its application to public schools from the foundational case of New Jersey v. T.L.O. to the current battle over mandatory drug testing. Section III describes a drug-testing procedure implemented in public school athletic programs, followed by an analysis of the constitutional implications of mandatory, suspicionless drug testing in public schools. A review of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton notes that the Court held that suspicionless drug testing of student athletes does not violate the students' constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches. Although drug testing student athletes is now permitted, whether other student groups, or the entire student body, may be tested is not settled. Section IV of this paper proposes a set of guidelines for school districts. The guidelines can be used to determine when a drug testing program is appropriate and what procedures must be followed to ensure that the program is constitutional. 415 footnotes