Reviews the status of Supreme Court deliberations in questions surrounding a New Jersey school's search of a student's purse. The state courts found the search unreasonable and reversed a lower court decision. (MD)

The legality of warrantless searches of students depends on the kind of search that takes place and what happens to any evidence obtained during the search. (Author/IRT)

Presents divergent opinions of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (for the plurality), Justice Antonin Scalia, and Justice Harry Blackmun in the Supreme Court decision to return the case of "O'Connor v. Ortega" (questioning the constitutionality of searching a public employee's office) to the district court. O'Connor rejected the notion that…

Reviews the United States Supreme Court's findings in "New Jersey vs. T.L.O.," a case hinging on the reasonableness of a school official's search of a student's purse. Cites several issues that remained unresolved after the decision and argues that the court could have been more helpful. (PGD)

This booklet provides an overview of the changes in the area of student rights in recent years. Most of these changes have been mandated by the courts and cover such areas as discrimination, student records, searches, religion in the schools, freedom of speech and assembly, suspension, and expulsion. The author holds that in the future there will…