Students are being searched with little to no cause and the government is supporting these searches despite their violation of the fourth amendment.

The upholding of the New Jersey v. TLO verdict by the Supreme Court allowed schools across the country to ignore students’ fourth amendment right. According to the United States Courts website, this constitutional violation was justified by Justice Powell who said, “in a school setting, the Constitution may not afford students all of the constitutional protections they would otherwise have in a non-school setting.”

The court also deemed that students do not have the same rights as any other citizen when it comes to the initial search. The Supreme Court ruled that “reasonable suspicion” could be used to justify an initial search instead of probable cause, which is what is used in all non-school environments. Reasonable suspicion makes it easier for school staff to justify a search, while probable cause is defined by Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute as something found “when there is a reasonable basis for believing that a crime may have been committed (for an arrest) or when evidence of the crime is present in the place to be searched (for a search).”

Searches of students’ belongings are not only unconstitutional but they’re also disruptive to the other students. According to an article on Public School Review’s website posted in 2016, during drug sweeps when police dogs are used many students become distracted from their class by the barking as well as their own curiosity.

Rather than worrying about their rights students should be happy that school staff can easily rid the school of drugs and/or weapons, making the school a much safer place. However, students’ rights are being completely ignored all because they are in school. The government requires that all children go to school so they are therefore requiring that they give up their rights: This ruling and its justifications from the Supreme Court are blatant infringements on the constitutional rights of students.