61°
It all began in 2006, when a student in Egg Harbor Township sold a green pill to a 10th-grader during shop class. After not finding anything in the student’s locker, an assistant principal searched his car.
Inside he found a liquid-filled syringe, a fake cigarette with a hole in it that could be used as a blunt, a wallet, a bottle of pills, a bag of pot, another bag with a white powdery substance inside, and a vial.
The student, then 18, pleaded guilty to distribution of diazepam on school property, served three months and entered the state’s Intensive Supervision Program.
How far we’ve come: 25 years ago, the Supremes said school officials in two districts had overstepped their bound by searching one student’s purse and another’s locker.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in turn, ruled that school officials needed “reasonable suspicion” and not the usual “probable cause” and warrant required to search someone that is required by police.
A violation of the Fourth Amendment governing unreasonable searches and seizures?
Not so, said the Supremes.
Other courts have approved vehicle searches, and New Jersey’s highest court found no reason to disagree.
“The need for school officials to maintain safety, order, and discipline is necessary whether school officials are addressing concerns inside the school building or outside on the school parking lot,” the Supreme Court wrote:
“It is the school environment and the need for safety, order, and discipline that is the underpinning for the school official – who has reasonable grounds to believe that a student possesses contraband – to conduct a reasonable search for such evidence.”
” Under the circumstances of this case, it was reasonable for the vice principal to believe that defendant may have
additional contraband in all areas accessible to him on school property, including his locker and his car.
“Consequently, the vice principal’s search of defendant’s car was reasonably related in scope to the various locations on school property that defendant might have placed the contraband – on his person, his locker, and his car.”
What do YOU think?
{loadposition log}
Click here to follow Daily Voice Ramapo and receive free news updates.
