By upholding a student's refusal to provide a urine sample, the Seventh Circuit Court correctly avoided further erosion of the Fourth Amendment's privacy principle. In "New Jersey v T.L.O." (1995), the U.S. Supreme Court shrunk the probable-cause standard to reasonable suspicion in the special context of public schools, retaining the…

The Supreme Court in 1985 first addressed the issue of balance between a student's right to privacy as stated in the Fourth Amendment and school officials' need to maintain safety. This chapter summarizes the case, explores the meaning of the court opinion, and briefly discusses other issues. The case involved a 14-year-old girl (T.L.O.) whose…

Legal points school officials must consider before conducting student searches are reviewed. Some courts have viewed school personnel as agents of the state, subject to all Fourth Amendment limitations. Most, however, have tended to support the doctrine of in loco parentis, permitting some searches on grounds of less than probable cause. (PP)