Supreme Court Case Study

Two Piscataway Township High School freshman were caught smoking cigarettes in the bathroom. When caught, the teacher took both students to the principal's office. One girl admitted to smoking while the other student, Terry or TLO , denied smoking. In response to the denial, officials asked for TLO to hand over her purse. Reluctantly, TLO passed the purse to the officials where they started rummaging through the purse. The officials discovered cigarettes, marijuana, and a list containing the names of students who owed TLO money. In response, the principal called the police and TLO parents TLO. was charged with possession and dealing of marijuana. But before the trial, TLO argued that that the search of her purse was against the fourth amendment and evidence should …show more content…
The appellate court reviewed the decision and the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed the decision, explaining that the fourth amendment also applies to seizures and searches conducted by school officials in schools . The constitutional issue that this court case is involved is the fourth amendment. This court case questions whether the exclusionary rule applies to searches conducted by school officials in public schools. The state of New Jersey appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court decided by a 6-3 margin to overturn the New Jersey Supreme Court decision. They based this decision on the fact that the school searches of her purse was “reasonable”. First, the student was caught in the bathroom and taken to the principal’s office. So in this case, it was reasonable to search TLO's purse for cigarettes. In addition, the drug related evidence was in plain view which is an exception to the warrant in the 4th amendment. Lastly, teachers do not need a warrant in schools because student should expect a reduced should have a reduced expectation of privacy when they are at