Background
Summary and Questions
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Vocabulary
search
Define:
Use in a sentence:
evidence
Define:
Use in a sentence:
confession
Define:
Use in a sentence:
suppressed
Define:
Use in a sentence:
suspicion
Define:
Use in a sentence:
probation
Define:
Use in a sentence:
In
1980, a teacher at a high school in New Jersey found
two girls smoking in a bathroom. Students were allowed
to smoke in some areas of the school, but smoking in
the restrooms was against school rules. The teacher
took the two girls to the principal's office. There,
they met with Assistant Vice Principal Theodore Choplick.
One of the girls was T.L.O., a 14-year-old freshman.
T.L.O. said she had not been smoking and said that she
did not smoke at all. The second girl admitted that
she had been smoking.
Choplick
took T.L.O. into his office. He told her to give him
her purse. When he opened the purse, he found a pack
of cigarettes. He took the cigarettes out of the purse
and showed them to T.L.O. He said she had lied about
smoking in the restroom. He also found a package of
cigarette rolling papers. In his opinion, this meant
that T.L.O. might be using marijuana. He decided to
search T.L.O.'s purse some more. When he did
so, he found some marijuana, a pipe, and empty plastic
bags. He also found one-dollar bills, a list of students
who owed T.L.O. money, and some letters. In the letters,
there was information that showed that T.L.O. was selling
marijuana.
Choplick
then called T.L.O.'s mother and the police. They both
came to the school. Choplick gave the items from the
purse to the police. The police asked the mother to
take T.L.O. to the police station. At the police station,
T.L.O. admitted that she had been selling marijuana
at school. The State of New Jersey brought charges against
T.L.O. The evidence they used was T.L.O.'s admission
and the items from her purse.
T.L.O.
said that the search violated the Fourth Amendment protection
against unreasonable search and seizure. She tried to
have the evidence from her purse kept out of court.
She also argued that her confession should be
suppressed, because it happened as a result of
the unreasonable search. The juvenile court turned down
her Fourth Amendment arguments. The Court said that
a school official may search a student if that official
has a "reasonable suspicion that a crime
has been or is in the process of being committed".
A school official may also search a student if he has
"reasonable cause to believe that the search is
necessary to maintain school discipline or enforce school
policies."
The
juvenile court concluded that Choplick's search was
reasonable. It said that Choplick was justified in searching
the purse because of his reasonable suspicion that T.L.O.
had violated school rules by smoking in the restroom.
When Choplick opened the purse, evidence of marijuana
use was in plain view. This justified the further search
of the purse. In January 1982, T.L.O. was found delinquent
and sentenced to one year of probation.
T.L.O.
appealed her case in the New Jersey courts. The Supreme
Court of New Jersey found that Choplick's search was
unreasonable. The state appealed.
In
1983, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed
to hear the case. In 1985, the Court handed down its
decision.
Questions to
Consider:
- Why
did Choplick search T.L.O.'s purse?
- What
does the Fourth Amendment say?
- Try
to make an argument that the search of T.L.O.'s purse
was a violation of her Fourth Amendment rights.
- Now
try to make an argument that the Fourth Amendment
does not apply to students in public schools at all.
- Does
the search of T.L.O.'s purse seem "reasonable"
to you? Why or why not?
- Should
the procedures for searching students in schools be
the same as the procedures for searching adults? Why
or why not?
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