4th Amendment In Schools Cases In Cook
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Like searches, the seizure, or confiscation, of personal property is limited by the Fourth Amendment. Despite this, nearly every school has a policy of taking certain items belonging to students. Most commonly, this includes cell phones, but school have confiscated anything from stuffed animals to permanent markers.
26 In acknowledging the importance of the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule in deterring illegal search and seizures of juveniles, the courts have concluded that a child who encounters an officer on the street has a legitimate expectation of privacy in his person and property.
Brendlin v. California | United States Courts.
Searches conducted by school officials are government action and are subject to Fourth Amendment scrutiny; students have a legitimate expectation of privacy in their belongings at school.
You have the right to speak out, hand out flyers and petitions, and wear expressive clothing in school — as long as you don't disrupt the functioning of the school or violate school policies that don't hinge on the message expressed.
Students are required by law to attend school, and by statute, principals, teachers, and other school personnel may exercise the same degree of physical control over a pupil that a parent could, in order to maintain order, safety, and a learning environment.
Further, warrantless seizure of abandoned property, or of properties on an open field do not violate Fourth Amendment, because it is considered that having expectation of privacy right to an abandoned property or to properties on an open field is not reasonable.
Exceptions to the Warrant Requirement Exigent circumstances. Plain view. Search incident to arrest. Consent.
The Constitution, through the Fourth Amendment, protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. The Fourth Amendment, however, is not a guarantee against all searches and seizures, but only those that are deemed unreasonable under the law.
The Fourth Amendment applies to searches conducted by public school officials because “school officials act as representatives of the State, not merely as surrogates for the parents.” 350 However, “the school setting requires some easing of the restrictions to which searches by public authorities are ordinarily subject ...
