Summary Of The New Jersey Vs. T. L. O. Case

The New Jersey vs T.L.O. case is a controversial case that many people have different opinions about. This case led to many different opinions and thoughts about students privacy and rights at school. A New Jersey school district brought the case to the Supreme Court after the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the search planted on T.L.O. was against the Fourth Amendment. Well, actually the search was not against the Fourth Amendment. New Jersey’s search planted on T.L.O. was not against the Fourth Amendment.

During a school day in 1985, a student (T.L.O.) was caught selling drugs and smoking at a New Jersey High School. The officials at her school checked her purse to see if there were any drugs, and indeed she had them. She admitted

was in fact a legal search. The school had enough evidence and reasoning to know she was doing harm that the search was reasonable. “Specifically, the Juvenile Court held that a school official may search a student if the official has reasonable suspicion that a crime has been or is in the process of being committed, or has reasonable cause to believe the search is necessary to maintain school discipline or enforce policies.”(“Facts and Case Summary - New Jersey v. T.L.O.”) From the text above, you can see that there was enough evidence and reasonable suspicion to search the bag. The students privacy is balanced with the school’s environment and T.L.O.’s harmful acts were hurting the environment of the school, which made the search indeed legal. “He emphasized that the need for school authorities to immediately respond to threats to safety and to protect the education environment would justify a special exception from the Fourth Amendment’s.”(“Facts and Case Summary - New Jersey v. T.L.O.”) Some people might be arguing that you need some kind of warrant to search the bags, but public school officials are supposed to keep the school a safe place, which means if they did not search the bag the school could be harmed. She also broke many school rules and laws by bringing drugs to school. Smoking under the age of nineteen, possession of drugs in school, smoking in school, illegally selling drugs, and buying drugs under the