Due Process and Public Schools What are your rights?

4th Amendment: Search and Seizure Student expectation of privacy is low at school, especially since the Columbine High School shootings Since many schools have instituted “zero-tolerance” policies in regards to weapons on campus, more controversial investigatory techniques have been used Schools argue that given the need for school safety, the authority to conduct searches pre-empts a students right to privacy. While the real world requires “probable cause” for search and seizure, schools only require “reasonable suspicion”

What are schools allowed to search? Your locker (considered school property) Your purse or backpack: only need reasonable suspicion Body searches: pat-down searches are allowed, but many states prohibit strip searches. IF you are subjected to a pat down search, it is usually conducted by a member of the same sex Canine searches: no expectation of privacy in the air; dogs explore what is in “plain smell” Drug testing: since the purpose is not punishment but “remediation and health,” schools may conduct random drug tests as a condition for students to participate in ANY extracurricular activity Cell phone or personal computer searches: only need reasonable suspicion Car searches: reasonable suspicion

Do you have ANY due process rights? Very few; so far, the only real concession courts have given to students is that to discipline a student, the school must first provide the alleged wrongdoer with two rights: Specific information about the charges and evidence A chance to tell his or her side of the story