Board Of Education V. Earls Case Study

In the case Board of Education v. Earls, the issue involves drug testing for extracurricular activities. Previously, Vernonia school district created a policy to detect illegal drugs in students and that case with Acton of 1995; the court determined that the policy did not violate the Fourth Amendment “by dismissing the action in a 6-3 vote against the plaintiff” (Conlon). Lindsay Earls, a junior at Tecumseh High School in Tecumseh, Oklahoma, is involved in many extracurricular activities like show choir and the National Honors Society was tested for illegal drugs like all other students participating school sponsored activities. Earls claimed the policy was invading her privacy so she sued the Tecumseh school district for implementing a policy that she thought violated her rights with the Fourth Amendment (Earls v Board of Education ACLU). The Fourth Amendment to the United States prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by

Earls was 5 to 4 in favor of the defendants saying that a valid reason is needed in order to conduct a drug test. Lindsay Earls, the plaintiff, argued, “The policy violates the Fourth Amendment as incorporated by the Fourteenth Amendment” (Board of Education v. Lindsay Earls 4). She claimed that her rights to a reasonable search and seizure were violated. The Board of Education, the defendant, said that the policy was not violating the students’ rights because the government didn’t require it. The policy was simply in place “to send a message to parents and students that they don’t condone drug use” (Boyd). With a 5 to 4 vote, the decision was that because it is in the school district’s best interest “to detect and keep illegal drug use to a minimum, the policy is indeed constitutional” (Board of Education Oyez). The court said that any school using a similar policy should have a probable reason to drug tests their