The Supreme Court has issued only one decision on a case involving the rights of public school students to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The Court's decision, while resolving the crucial issue of the appropriate standard for assessing student searches, left a number of important questions wholly unanswered. (IAH)

A recent state appellate court decision, "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania versus Cass," suggests that careless or misguided handling of drug searches (especially random drug-sniffing searches) will not hold up in court. Unless advance warnings are provided, administrators should conduct only narrowly focused searches that satisfy…

Public employee status in relation to office privacy has not been clarified by the recent Supreme Court decision in "O'Conner v. Ortega." The 1986 Handicapped Children's Protection Act's provision allowing courts to award attorney fees to parents who win cases on administrative rights is ambiguous. The implications for schools are…

Examines Fourth Amendment legal issues involved in drug testing of public employees. Discusses several recent court cases involving probable cause and reasonable suspicion to determine appropriate standards for individual situations. Outlines implications for public employers. Blanket drug testing is not permissable, though job applicants have…

Reviews court cases related to search of students and extracts guiding principles administrators can use to reconcile the students' legitimate privacy interests with the educational necessities of the school. (JM)

Examines recent court decisions regarding the legality of drug-testing programs aimed at student athletes. Concludes the drug-testing programs will be upheld if the program is narrowly drawn with regard to the student population; aims at limited and achievable goals; involves random selection of students for testing; and imposes penalties…

Uses a discussion of the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment and a case study entitled "Search and Seizure at a Rock Concert" to teach secondary students about privacy, property, and justice. Examines exceptions to the Fourth Amendment and describes "probable cause" as it relates to searches. (GEA)

Examines legal and ethical ramifications of three roles of school authorities (agents-of-state, custodial, tutelary) legitimated in two Supreme Court decisions: "New Jersey v. T.L.0." (search and seizure) and "Vernonia v. Action" (drug use testing). (Contains 34 references.)(PKP)

Uses combination of legal research, policy analysis, and quantitative research to examine the impact of two Supreme Court decisions, "New Jersey v. T.L.O" and "Vernonia v. Acton," on student Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure. (Contains 1 table, 4 figures, 87 references)(PKP)

Discusses the fourth amendment (providing protection against "unreasonable" searches and seizures) and its application in educational administration. (PG)

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…

The Fourth Amendment search and seizure law is one of the most technical and difficult areas in all of law to understand. Some Fourth Amendment Supreme Court cases are discussed. (RM)

Examines impact of Supreme Court's 2002 decision in "Board of Education v. Earls" on high school random drug-testing policies and practices. Court held that random drug-testing policy at Tecumseh, Oklahoma, school district did not violate students' Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches. (Contains 46 references.) (PKP)

Because school lockers are potential hiding places for weapons and drugs, some schools are eliminating them. Searching student lockers on a random basis raises legal questions. Examines the legality of random locker searches based upon the guidelines for student searches set forth by the Supreme Court in "New Jersey v. T.L.O." and lower…

Regarding school searches, courts have provided guidelines balancing individual students' rights against the larger school community's rights. Administrators are bound by the Fourth Amendment, which stresses reasonable grounds of suspicion and related circumstances. Strip searches, metal detectors, hidden cameras, and locker searches may meet…