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School Searches

Anti-Hero

    • 246
    Posts
    15
    Years
    The title was the best I could come up with. xD

    Should schools be able to rightfully search your possessions with out proper authorization (I.E. Search Warrant/Whatever).

    I'm on the fence. There are multiple good reasons for them needing to (I.E. weapon threat, drug paraphernalia or etc.) But, for those in the states, wouldn't it technically violate your 4th amendment right? Also, you could say no because it is the school's property (I.E. Locker) but, the loan it out to you. I mean, if someone rented you a house, they couldn't come search it whenever they wanted. So, maybe lockers are one thing, but when it comes to backpacks and etc, thats really different.
     
    Last time I cared, the justification for this was that people under the age of 18 don't technically have the same rights as adults, and have all the legal protections of illegal immigrants or felons.

    Not to say that it's a good thing at all...and it's been quite a while since I was in high school, so things may have changed since then. >_<
     
    I find them annoying, but needed. xD. My school doesn't ever use them (I'm in high school) but if they had, they could have probably avoided the few fires that went of in the boy's bathroom in the beginning of the year. xD

    But then again, they would also take away some of my personal stuff, such as my MP3 and my phone, both of which I need.

    Xo I'm on the fence.xD
     
    I say yes if there is good reason such as, like you said, weapons, drugs, or if like a possession of another student was stolen, I think a teacher should have the right to ask other students to turn out their backpacks or lockers. You're going into a building where safety is obviously going to be a huge issue and I believe the school has the right to reasonably dictate what you can and can't bring as well as have the means to enforce that. I think it's okay to have mp3 players and cell phone as long as you're not using them during class, but if you have any incriminating objects or things you don't want taken away, don't bring them to school, it's as simple as that.
     
    The Supreme Court has ruled that minors DO have the same rights as adults in many areas. For example, now minors have the right to an attorney and to require the government prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

    Regarding school searches, the police still need probable cause to search you at school. It is school staff who can search you at-will, not the police (save a campus officer who is employed by the school district).
     
    I think if they have evidence that you have something that could harm yourself and others they should give you a chance to give it to them, but if you don't let them they should be able to search.
     
    ryty1231 said:
    I think if they have evidence that you have something that could harm yourself and others they should give you a chance to give it to them, but if you don't let them they should be able to search.
    Click to expand...

    That is called a Terry frisk. If the police have a reasonable suspicion to believe you have weapons, they can a pat-down of your person.
     
    They should have a search warrant, or probable cause.
    Just because we're young doesn't mean we have more chance of committing crimes.
    We should still get the same things as everyone else.

    If we had probable cause that would be good because we'd be able to catch more.
    Like, in my school there was this kid a few years back who was totally drunk in class xD
    The teacher had probable cause to search her locker and found vodka.
    So yeah. I think that's what it should be d:
     
    emoBill™ said:
    They should have a search warrant, or probable cause.
    Just because we're young doesn't mean we have more chance of committing crimes.
    We should still get the same things as everyone else.

    If we had probable cause that would be good because we'd be able to catch more.
    Like, in my school there was this kid a few years back who was totally drunk in class xD
    The teacher had probable cause to search her locker and found vodka.
    So yeah. I think that's what it should be d:
    Click to expand...

    The Supreme Court has decided that because teachers and school administrators are not police officers, they are not bound by the Fourth Amendment because they cannot arrest you and prosecute you in a court of law. You could try and sue for invasion of privacy but that would be a difficult case to win and is only recommended when administrators acted very authoritarian and intimidating.
     
    Yay, I thought this was going to die without any posts. xD

    They are supposed to have probable cause. But come on, they can lie, its not that hard. I also wouldn't doubt that if it came down to it, they would. Because, I mean, who would they really believe? The school administration or a kid or two?

    I mean, all they have to say is, "A kid, who wishes to remain anonymous, told us that, so-and-so had a gun."
     
    The 4th amendment is pretty much dead. The government doesn't care anymore about your rights. Cops are gonna be searching all the time in the Texas-Mexico border. My neighboring high school is supposedly high in the national education charts but drug searches have been carried out recently. That is something you would expect from the non-magnet mediocre high schools, not in my school district.
     
    Anti-Hero said:
    Yay, I thought this was going to die without any posts. xD

    They are supposed to have probable cause. But come on, they can lie, its not that hard. I also wouldn't doubt that if it came down to it, they would. Because, I mean, who would they really believe? The school administration or a kid or two?

    I mean, all they have to say is, "A kid, who wishes to remain anonymous, told us that, so-and-so had a gun."
    Click to expand...
    Anyone in a position of authority can lie, but would they have a reason to? They'd look pretty foolish if they kept searching lockers and finding nothing, not to mention risking accusations of harassment.

    It's a school. There are some places you should just expect to have less privacy (because there can be safety concerns, you have vindictive teachers or whatever). Don't do your bad stuff at school. Or better yet, don't do it at all. Parents and guardians don't have to have probable cause when it comes to their kids and teachers are your guardians when you're at school.

    In general I think it's okay for schools to search your lockers and your things, but that any abuse of this should be taken very seriously. It's a very fine line.
     
    The officer just searches students lockers if someone reports drugs/weapons, ect. on campus.

    I had my locker searched before because the officer was looking for these pills(they were not in my locker) but he never found them...
     
    My employers have a clause in the contract of employment that states that employees must submit to random searches, be it you turning out your pockets or a search of your locker. If you don't like it, then don't work there. I think it's a very fair system - you should only be worried if you have something to hide. I think it's fair to apply that to schools - like Scarf said, what the hell are you doing bringing incriminating evidence into your school? Searches should be conducted on a random basis, I think, with an exception made for a serious tip-off (and serious punishments for misuse of the system).
     
    One should only be bringing school supplies to school, so why not have searches, so long as there's a consent form to be signed so that nobody ought to be in misunderstanding.

    It's airport searches I find strange, like they don't search you if you're going on a ship which carries MORE people.
     
    Well technically, 4th commandment or not, the US government is not allowed to make any laws regarding or according to religion, or so states the constitution.

    Make people sign a form detailing that when they are in the school vicinity, administration and those given clearance by administration (police) are allowed to search you.

    Then it'll clear up everything just fine.
     
    If officers lie and are caught, they risk their jobs, civil lawsuits, and depending on what they did, criminal prosecution. Not to mention every case where a conviction was obatained based on that officer's evidence is wil lbe subject to review and there will be convictions being overturned.

    @Kura: Since when were we discussing the seperation of Chrurch and state?
     
    Anti-Hero said:
    The title was the best I could come up with. xD

    Should schools be able to rightfully search your possessions with out proper authorization (I.E. Search Warrant/Whatever).

    I'm on the fence. There are multiple good reasons for them needing to (I.E. weapon threat, drug paraphernalia or etc.) But, for those in the states, wouldn't it technically violate your 4th amendment right? Also, you could say no because it is the school's property (I.E. Locker) but, the loan it out to you. I mean, if someone rented you a house, they couldn't come search it whenever they wanted. So, maybe lockers are one thing, but when it comes to backpacks and etc, thats really different.
    Click to expand...

    I believe a school has a right to search their own lockers, as lockers themselves aren't suppose to be there to hold private items. They exist to have a medium for holding things related to school, such a books, etc. Other than that, jackets and instruments tend to go in lockers as well, if there aren't separate places for them already.

    I don't think, and nobody has the right without a warrant, to search your personal belongings, such as a bookbag or purse. They certainly have the right to ask to search it, but you have the right to deny the search.

    Honestly though, you shouldn't be bringing things to school other than what's needed in your daily school life. So, I see no reason for students to be hiding things and to withhold people from searching.

    I also believe the administration can suspend or get the police involved if there's probable cause and you don't agree to a search. If someone believes something is going on, and something needs to be searched for something dangerous, the excuse of "Oh, well, I couldn't search their stuff, I can't do anything about it" isn't valid either.

    Basically, I believe you should have the right to your privacy, but you shouldn't really have anything to hide while you're at school, either. The most you'd have to hide is personal things like hygienic products and medication...
     
    Personally, I belive the school has no right to search you unless you make some sort of threat. What's even worse is if they're allowed to search you, what's stopping them from confisgating things they don't allow? That's completely unfair, since the school doesn't even have the right to confisgate ANYTHING that IS NOT ACTIVELY DISRUPTING CLASS! If they see it, and confisgate it because it fell out of your pocket, that's stealing, and can lead to a lawsuit. If you were ignoring the teacher and using a cell phone, it's a different story. That being said, if they confisgate anything from you which isn't illegal for you to posess by law, then they're in the wrong unless you were disrupting class with it.

    Of course disrupting class can include disrupting only your own learning, but yeah...Schools should never have the right to search a student unless they have probable cause to belive that a student posesses something ILLEGAL like a WEAPON or ILLEGAL DRUGS.

    No search without probable cause. Period. I don't give a care what your rationalization for it is.
     
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