NCJ Number
110521
Journal
New York State Bar Journal Volume: 58 Issue: 6 Dated: (October 1986) Pages: 41-43,47
Date Published
1986
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The Supreme Court's relaxation of fourth amendment protections for high school students in New Jersey v. T.L.O. signals the possibility that it might not consider mandatory drug testing of students to be an unreasonable search under the fourth amendment.
Abstract
In New Jersey v. T.L.O. the Court did not adequately define the reasonable suspicion standard that it substituted for the traditional fourth amendment probable cause standard. This imprecision is due to the Court's general bias in favor of the State's law enforcement interests. Additionally, the Court did not seriously consider a student's privacy interest when authorizing school officials to determine if a search was justified. The Court limited the scope of a search to the bounds set by its objective, and it excluded intrusive searches. However, those distinctions would not protect students from tests for drugs and alcohol that are not intrusive. In New Jersey v. T.L.O. the Court mentions drug use and weapons possession as the most serious breaches of school discipline, warranting the most thorough searches permitted under law. Since New Jersey v. T.L.O. addresses the school officials' authority to exercise the State's police power, it is possible that students' fourth amendment protections may be further eroded at some time in the future by Court-approved mandatory drug testing. 12 footnotes.