As it weighs the high-profile case of a 13-year-old girl strip-searched at school, the U.S. Supreme Court is grappling with where to draw the line between protecting student privacy rights and allowing school officials to take steps to ensure a safe environment. During oral arguments, several of the justices seemed sympathetic to the challenges…

Unanimous U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld the strip search of a student. Since first case was decided in 1973, no other court has been willing to uphold this highly intrusive search method. Asks why the Sixth Circuit is willing to set aside what has been the concern of the judiciary for the past several decades. (MLF)

In examining student searches from a critical theory perspective, one considers who is being searched, who does the searching and by what authority, and how searching reinforces existing power structures. This article addresses these questions and related concepts (discipline, criminal/deviant behavior, punishment, and rehabilitation) by applying…

Educators concerned about school safety have resorted to searching students, their lockers, and their possessions. These searches have led to litigation over whether the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures applies to public schools. Although courts have upheld reasonable searches, administrators should carefully…

Discusses federal district court decision dismissing suit brought by three Texas high school students claiming that their Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated when police, at request of administrators, entered school and rounded up, handcuffed, and detained them and 11 other students who "hung out" with a student arrested…

In recent years, public school students have been searched with metal detectors and occasionally sniffed by dogs or strip searched. Their lockers and bookbags have been searched, and their urine has been tested for drugs--all in the name of school safety. This article explores the legal ramifications of such searches and calls for a critical…

Concerns over students' and staff members' safety in public schools continue to mount-- manifested in zero-tolerance policies, stringent disciplinary practices, and efforts to implement drug-screening programs. Although "reasonable suspicion" for searches and drug testing is the watchword, courts cannot agree on definitions. Legalities…

Reviews Supreme Court case, New Jersey v. T.L.O., that established the right of school officials to conduct searches of students when the purpose is to maintain discipline, order, and safety in the educational setting. The need to have reasonable grounds for suspicion before conducting the search is emphasized. (CR)

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…