Essay | Application of the 4th Amendment

Introduction

In 1984, the Supreme Court was called upon to determine whether, and to what extent, the Fourth Amendment applies to children within the confines of a public school. New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325 (1984). The Court held the Fourteenth Amendment protects the rights of students against encroachment by school officials; hence, all student searches are subject to the Fourth Amendment's reasonableness requirement. Id. at 334.

Since the T.L.O. decision, courts have struggled in determining exactly what is reasonable when evaluating the reasonableness of a student search. A particular divergence of opinion comes in the area of mandatory suspicionless drug testing. In September 1988, the board of education for the Tecumseh Public School district of Oklahoma, adopted a drug testing policy entitled the "Student Activities Drug Testing Policy." Earls v. Board of Educ. Of Tecumseh Public School District, 242 F.3d 1264, 1267 (10th Cir. 2001). Under this...
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