New Jersey v. T.L.O (1985)

David Kumar

Table of Contents

• Background

• Progression Through Courts

• Constitutional Issues

• Supreme Court Ruling

Background

• Two girls Found Smoking in Restroom (not allowed by school)

• One girl admits to it T.L.O. does not

• Vice Principle searched T.L.O.’s purse found evidence of her smoking and of her selling marijuana.

• Police called T.L.O. given one year of probation.

Progression through Courts

• Juvenile Court – guilty

• Appellate Court – still guilty

• New Jersey Supreme Court – Fourth Amend violation

• U.S. Supreme Court – No Fourth Amend violation School was in clear since the search was “reasonable”

Constitutional Issues

• Was the T.L.O.’s Fourth Amendment rights violated?• No it was not. Faculty only need reasonable suspicion to search a

student’s stuff.

• Students waive certain rights while in school.

Supreme Court Ruling (State 6 - 3 T.L.O.)

• Landmark Case• Set the precedent that the forth amendment is interpreted two

ways (in and out of school)

• In school, the amendment is upheld through reasonable suspicion

• Out-of-School, the amendment is upheld only through probable cause and a warrant

Supreme Court Ruling (State 6 - 3 T.L.O.)

• Writ of Certiorari• The US Supreme Court granted certiorari to the NJ Supreme

Court decision

• Amicus Curiae • the Amici Curiae filed in favor of the NJ Supreme Court ruling

cited Constitutional grounds for search by school authorities, while the Amici Curiae filed in opposition to the NJ Supreme Court ruling, focused on the over-riding necessity and ability of the educational system to safeguard not only the individual student but the safety of the school population as a whole.

Supreme Court Ruling (State 6 - 3 T.L.O.)

State’s Side• School officials may search

a student if that official has a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been or is in the process of being committed

T.L.O.’s Side• The search violated her

Fourth Amendment rights.

Supreme Court Ruling (State 6 - 3 T.L.O.)

Oral Arguments• State said that the search

was to maintain order.

• T.L.O. said forth amendment right was violated which led to self- incrimination

Judicial Conference• Took 2 years to issue the

ruling on this case that found a new interpretation of the fourth amendment

Supreme Court Ruling (State 6 - 3 T.L.O.)

Majority Opinion• School officials do not

need to have probable cause to believe that a student has violated school rules in order to initiate a search

Dissenting Opinion• Searches without probable

cause are a violation of Fourth Amendment