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The Fourth Amendment is included in the Bill of Rights, which belongs to the United States Constitution. As stated by the Constitution, the Fourth Amendment is, "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Basically, it protects against unreasonable searches and seizures...except for when you are a high school or elementary student.



At a Piscataway, NJ high school, in 1980, two girls were found smoking in the bathroom. Smoking was not something the school prohibited, but the students were only allowed to do it in designated areas, and the bathrooms were not one of them. The teacher who found the students took them to the principle's office, where they met with the assistant vice principle, Mr. Choplick. One of the girls confessed to smoking and was told to leave the room. The other student, T.L.O. (whose name is not used because she was a minor), denied smoking in the bathroom, which resulted in Mr. Choplick taking her purse, opening it, and taking out the cigarettes.
 * Facts:**

When the cigarettes were taken out of the purse there were rolling papers, which are usually related to the drug marijuana, in plain sight. This gave Mr. Choplick reason to believe there was more in the purse that was drug related. After doing a search of the entire purse, Mr. Choplick, found marijuana, small plastic baggies, a pipe, a large quantity of money, an index card with a list of names of who owed her money on it, and two letters that tied her to dealing marijuana. Mr. Choplick handed the purse and its evidence over to the police, and T.L.O. was taken down to the police station by her mother, at the request of authorities, where she admitted to selling drugs in school.

As a result of her confession and the drug evidence found in her purse, T.L.O. had delinquency charges brought against her in by the State of New Jersey in the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court of Middlesex County. T.L.O. did not agree with these charges and argued that the evidence from her purse and her confession be suppressed, on the grounds that the search and seizure were in violation of her Fourth Amendment rights. Was the search of T.L.O.'s purse in violation of her Fourth Amendment rights? Meet T.L.O, our drama queen.
 * Legal issue:**

No, but this case went through a lot of levels before a conclusion could be made.
 * Holding:**

__//First//__: As a result of the evidence in the purse and the confession, delinquency charges were brought against T.L.O. by the Juvenile Courts of New Jersey. She was sentenced to one years probation because it was ruled that the search was not in violation of her Fourth Amendment rights. Since Mr. Choplick had the rolling papers in plain view, when he moved the cigarettes, it was in his power to search the rest of the purse, due to reasonable suspicion. (1982)

__//Second//__: T.L.O. appealed the ruling of the Juvenile Courts of New Jersey to the appellate division, which is the division "of a court that hears appeals, sometimes existing as an intermediate court between a trial court and a court of last resort." (dictionary)They agreed with the juvenile courts in saying that there was no violation of her Fourth Amendment rights. (1982)

__//Third//__: T.L.O. then appeals the Appellate Divisions ruling on her Fourth Amendment rights to the Supreme Court of New Jersey. The Supreme Courts of NJ motioned that all the evidence be suppressed from the case because it was in violation of her Fourth Amendment rights. They had reversed the Appellate Divisions ruling and "relied on the Supreme Court of the United States precedent to hold that whenever an 'official' search violates constitutional rights, the evidence may not be used in a criminal case. " (http://www.landmarkcases.org/newjersey/background3.html) They thought that Mr. Choplick had no right to look in T.L.O.'s purse, since smoking was not illegal on campus, nor was the possession of cigarettes, and that finding cigarette rolling papers did not constitute further searching into her purse. (1983)

__//Fourth//__: Finally, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the Supreme Court of NJ, and decided that her Fourth Amendment rights were not violated by Mr. Choplick. They stated that, "searches done by school officials are constitutional without a warrant as long as they are 'reasonable.'" (1985)

"We have the final say".

This is an important case for teachers. They need to know their rights, as well as what rights their students have. As a teacher, they act as in loco parentis, or "in the place of a parent". So a teacher, principal, or other school figure, has the right to search a student's locker, backpack, purse, or other personal belongings if they feel there is a justified reason, just as a mother would search her child's room if she felt she had a reason. Teachers also have this right in order to protect themselves and their students from harm, whether it be drugs or weapons. Althought the Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, students are not entirely protected from this in public schools. The safety of students, teachers, and school personnel come before anything else.
 * Implications:**

Current event articles:

Danielle's-http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/tuesday/news/ny-txtdogs156038690feb17,0,2631612.story http://www.newsday.com/news/local/crime/ny-lidogs156038688feb17,0,3598762.story April's-http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/01-332.ZS.html [] []

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