High schools nationwide play a crucial role in shaping the next generation—a responsibility most parents deeply value and support. However, during the course of ensuring a safe learning environment for students, it's possible for high schools to take actions that go beyond what parents are okay with. Namely, searches of high school students are incredibly polarizing, especially given the disciplinary and even criminal punishments that can follow.
High schools may feel compelled to search a student's locker, vehicle, backpack, or cell phone to prevent harm or stop crimes, but they can't simply bulldoze that student's rights and privacy protections. Despite some limitations, high school students do not forfeit all Fourth Amendment protections when they step on school grounds. If your student's high school exceeds its authority and ventures into the realm of unwarranted, discriminatory, or illegal searches, you should not stand idly by.
The Lento Law Firm can be your student's advocate when they are subjected to unlawful searches and invasions of privacy by their high school. Illegal searches have the potential to improperly introduce evidence that can land good kids in hot water for no justifiable reason. By working with our Student Defense Team, you are one step closer to protecting your student's rights and privacy guarantees on and off campus.
Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or contact us through our website to start protecting your high school students from invasion of their privacy.
High School Student Rights Under the Fourth Amendment
The U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures, meaning authority figures cannot simply choose to invade someone's privacy. High school students in America, like everyone else in the country, benefit from these protections. If they are walking down the street, relaxing at home, or playing out in the yard, no one can search them without good reason. However, when it comes to a school setting, the standards we are accustomed to change slightly, and every parent of a high school student should understand the risks their kids face.
Even without massive amounts of evidence or a warrant, school officials may sometimes be allowed to conduct searches on high school students if they have a reasonable suspicion of illegal activity or school policy violations. Compared to the probable cause standard, which requires evidence indicating criminal activity, reasonable suspicion is a lower bar to cross. It's intended to help shift the balance in favor of the high school for purposes of school safety, but it carries the side effect of reducing the privacy rights of every enrolled student.
Supreme Court Case at the Center of the Issue
The Supreme Court case of New Jersey v. T.L.O. established much of the groundwork for the reasonableness standard. This case involved a 14-year-old student first brought before their administrators due to smoking cigarettes in the bathroom. When questioned by administrators, the student denied the allegations, prompting them to search her purse for evidence. During this search, they found cigarettes and further evidence of drug use, which ultimately led to charges in Juvenile Court.
At the time, the student's lawyer argued that the search of her purse, based solely on the school official's suspicions, violated the Fourth Amendment. However, the Supreme Court did not see it that way and established a test for determining if a search is reasonable.
First, a search must be justified. Because a teacher found the student smoking, the Supreme Court decided that searches to uncover cigarettes were justified. Next, searches must be related in scope to the initial circumstances that justified the interference. Because the initial search for cigarettes found evidence of rolling papers, and that discovery was the impetus for further searches to find drugs and other items, the Supreme Court found that the search was overall reasonable.
The Supreme Court justices did not find that the Fourth Amendment did not apply to school officials. Instead, they simply acknowledged that proving Fourth Amendment violations is a more challenging task when you introduce child safety and school security into the mix. For students, privacy is not guaranteed, even with a lack of probable cause.
Another Court Case Affecting Student Privacy and Search Rights
Even though school officials can sometimes search students for the purpose of school safety, this does not provide them blanket authority to strip away all student rights. Importantly, students still benefit from Fourth Amendment protections when law enforcement officials are involved.
In the case of State v. K.L.M., a principal brought in a student for questioning after a fellow student overheard details of a drug sale on campus. The student maintained their innocence, and there was no probable cause for a full search. Theoretically, the principal may have had the authority to search the student or ask them to empty their pockets under the reasonableness standard, but that is not what happened.
Instead, the principal asked a law enforcement official to assist with the search, in which he found marijuana in the student's pocket and placed them under arrest. Although the law enforcement official testified to conducting the search on the principal's behalf, he was still bound by the stricter probable cause standard for searches, and courts later suppressed the evidence against the student.
How These Privacy and Search Standards Affect Your High School Student
The divide between how school officials and law enforcement are entitled to act is not an accident. The Lento Law Firm can help discover who searched your high school student, why they did it, and what they uncovered to properly defend your child from further issues.
The simple reason that school officials have lower requirements for searching high school students is because the primary purpose of school searches should never be to uncover criminal activity and secure criminal convictions. If cops had free rein to stop anyone in the name of public safety without probable cause, American society would cease to function as it currently does. School officials have greater leeway, but they cannot abuse this authority and conduct unjustified searches of high school students to their heart's content.
The distinctions between who is conducting a search and why are critical when it comes to defending your high school student's rights and future. The Lento Law Firm can help determine who was present at a search and who conducted the search. If it was a joint operation between school officials and active law enforcement, that is one potential avenue to explore to limit the introduction of harmful evidence in later proceedings. Or, if suspicion of misbehavior or criminal activity is not reasonable to begin with, we can work to throw out everything resulting from the search.
If your high school student is in trouble with their school or dealing with the aftermath of evidence uncovered through searches on campus, the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can help. Keeping school officials honest and ensuring all searches meet the necessary standards can make the difference between minor school disciplinary action and severe consequences like expulsion or criminal charges.
Types of Searches of High School Students and Their Belongings
Now that you have a thorough understanding of the rights afforded to high school students and when searches may be reasonable, we should look at practical examples that are common across America. Every day, hundreds of high school students across the country have their personal belongings searched by school officials, some legit and some unreasonable. Contact the Lento Law Firm today if you believe your student's privacy rights were violated.
Physical Searches
Physical searches make up the lion's share of searches of high school students, typically looking for evidence of illegal substances and weapons that may pose a threat to the student body. Physical searches commonly take the form of:
- Locker Searches: Lockers are considered school property, and students generally have a reduced expectation of privacy regarding their use. Still, administrators need the same reasonable grounds before searching a student's locker. School policies often specify that lockers can be searched anytime, but this does not always negate the need for reasonable suspicion.
- Vehicle Searches: Students who drive to school and park on campus may have their vehicles subject to search if there is reasonable suspicion that the vehicle contains contraband or evidence of a violation. This is often stipulated in student parking agreements, but the expectation of privacy still applies to student vehicles, and curious school officials do not have ultimate authority to search as they please.
- Personal Searches: Personal searches, such as searches of a student's body or immediate belongings, remain a risk for high school students. Despite school officials needing reasonable suspicion that the student possesses something prohibited by school rules or law, we have already discussed how privacy-invading searches can arise. Personal searches are not fundamentally different from locker or vehicle searches, but they often involve physically patting down and touching a student, meaning school officials have to remain aware of a student's dignity and rights throughout.
Just because a school official claims they have reasonable suspicion doesn't mean their arguments will hold up to scrutiny. If your high school student was physically searched and you believe it was unfair, discriminatory, or illegal, call the Lento Law Firm as soon as possible. Our Student Defense Team will get to work establishing the facts of the case and defending your student's privacy rights.
Electronic Searches
Electronic searches are an evolving area of debate, especially compared to physical searches, with case law going back many decades. Personal electronic devices contain mountains of unique personal data, and courts are increasingly recognizing that digital devices should warrant a higher level of protection to safeguard sensitive information. However, some of the same concerns regarding student protections remain.
In 2014, Riley v. California found that warrantless search and seizures of cell phones during arrests are unconstitutional. This, however, brings us back to the issue of lower standards of suspicion required for searches of high school students. In the case of Jackson v. McCurry, school administrators who searched a student's phone due to concerns of harmful threats were not found to have broken any laws or violated any Fourth Amendment protections. This is because they acted under reasonable suspicion, and courts regarded their actions as similar to physical searches of the past.
To make these situations even more complex, consider locked cell phones and digital devices. Most students have passcodes on their phones, and some court cases have concluded that forcing someone to provide their passcode violates their Fifth Amendment rights. At the same time, courts have also ruled on the side of cops who force arrested individuals to open phones using fingerprints.
Remember, whether students must comply with searches of their electronic devices usually comes down to whether the suspicion of school officials is reasonable in the first place. Often, the best way to protect a high school student's future is to fight against the initial reasonableness of a search. Or, in other circumstances, negotiate with the school to limit harmful evidence that can affect a student's academic career and future. If your student has been searched by their high school, contact the Lento Law Firm today to learn how we can help.
Call the Lento Law Firm To Protect Your High School Student From Unreasonable Searches
No one likes being searched, and courts do not allow police to roam the streets and shake down suspicious individuals for no reason. Unfortunately, the bar for searching high school students is a bit lower, and if your student was searched and found to be violating school policies, their future is at risk.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team can advocate on behalf of your high school student and help identify procedural errors that may change the reasonableness of their search. For example, if school officials conduct a search of a student's belongings outside of their presence, it raises serious concerns about their initial reasons for invading their privacy. We understand how stressful and degrading it can be for high school students to be patted down and searched during school, and we want to help protect them in any way we can. If we need to litigate against the school or challenge the validity of evidence to protect your student, we will.
Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or contact us through our website to learn more about how our Student Defense Team can protect your student.
