Opinion ID: 853224
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: New Jersey v. T.L.O.

Text: The special needs doctrine, in the context of searches by school officials, has its roots in New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 105 S.Ct. 733, 83 L.Ed.2d 720 (1985), where the United States Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment's usual probable cause standard should not apply in a school setting. In T.L.O., a teacher discovered two students smoking in a school lavatory in violation of school rules. The teacher took the pair to the assistant principal's office, where T.L.O., in response to the assistant principal's questioning, denied having ever smoked. Searching T.L.O.'s purse, the assistant principal found a pack of cigarettes along with various drug paraphernalia. T.L.O. was later adjudged a delinquent. T.L.O. claimed that the search violated the Fourth Amendment. The Court agreed that the Fourth Amendment applied to searches conducted by school officials, but nevertheless concluded that school officials may conduct searches in the absence of the requirements imposed by the Fourth Amendment on other governmental searches. Id. at 340, 105 S.Ct. 733. The Court offered this explanation why a level of suspicion lower than that of probable cause is required for searches conducted by school officials, at least in the context of searches for evidence of school rule violations: [T]he legality of a search of a student should depend simply on the reasonableness, under all the circumstances, of the search. Determining the reasonableness of any search involves a twofold inquiry: first, one must consider whether the ... action was justified at its inception, Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. [1], at 20 [88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968) ]; second, one must determine whether the search as actually conducted was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the interference in the first place, ibid. Under ordinary circumstances, a search of a student by a teacher or other school official will be justified at its inception when there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school. Such a search will be permissible in its scope when the measures adopted are reasonably related to the objectives of the search and not excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student and the nature of the infraction. Id. at 341-42, 105 S.Ct. 733. However, the Court also emphasized that there were limits to the authority of school officials to conduct a search under this lowered constitutional bar. Specifically, the reasonableness standard should ensure that the interests of students will be invaded no more than is necessary to achieve the legitimate end of preserving order in the schools. Id. at 343, 105 S.Ct. 733. Justice Blackmun's concurring opinion introduced the phrase special needs into the public discourse on school searches. He expressed concern that a balancing test might become the rule rather than the exception. To curb this potential, he wrote, Only in those exceptional circumstances in which special needs, beyond the normal need for law enforcement, make the warrant and probable-cause requirement impracticable, is a court entitled to substitute its balancing of interests for that of the Framers. Id. at 351, 105 S.Ct. 733 (Blackmun, J., concurring). Searches in a school setting based on a lower standard are appropriate, he concluded, because of the need for immediate action on the part of teachers attempting to maintain order in the classroom.