\

Name:

Important events
1. New Jersey won this case under the terms that although students should have privacy rights under the 4th amendment, the school rules must be upheld and therefore officials are able to invade privacy if there is legitimate reason to do so.

2 The Court's decision would serve as a precedent in cases to come. In Bethel School District v. Fraser, 1986, the Court upheld school disciplinary action taken against a student who delivered a sexually explicit speech nominating a fellow student for elective office.

3. In the 1990s, the T.L.O. decision was used a number of times in Supreme Court cases to allow the use of metal detectors and protective searches in school. 4. In Weeks v. United States, 1914, the Court ruled that evidence obtained by police illegally is not admissible in federal courta practice known as the exclusionary rule. 5. The two girls were taken to the principal's office where T.L.O.'s companion admitted that she had been smoking in the restroom. T.L.O. denied smoking there

Summary of the case

On March 7th, 1980, two Piscataway Township High School freshmen were caught smoking cigarettes in the bathroom, which was a violation of school rules. The teacher took the student to the principal's office. The assistant principal questioned the student, who denied she had been smoking in the bathroom. The school official then demanded to see her purse. After opening it, he found cigarettes, cigarette rolling papers that are commonly associated with the use of marijuana, a pipe, plastic bags, money, a list of students who owed her money, and two letters that contained evidence that she had been involved in marijuana dealings. The student didnt agree and said she had never smoked in her life. She was told to hand her bag to the court. As a result of this search of the student's purse and the seizure of items in it, the state brought delinquency charges against the student in New Jersey Juvenile Court. The student (identified in the case only by her initials, T.L.O.) countered with a motion to suppress evidence found in her purse as a violation of her constitutional rights against unreasonable and unwarranted searches and seizures. The principal then called the police and the girl's mother, who voluntarily drove her to the police station. The Supreme Court of the United States, in a 6-3 decision issued by Justice White, between the individual's even a child legitimate expectation of privacy and the school's interest in maintaining order and discipline, said that New Jersey won the case. According to school officials, they do require a "reasonable suspicion" to perform a search. Therefore, her possession of any cigarettes was relevant to whether or not she was being truthful, and since she had been caught in the bathroom and taken directly to the office, it was reasonable to assume she had the cigarettes in her purse.

Timelines
March 7, 1980, A teacher at Piscataway High School in Middlesex County, New Jersey, found two girls smoking in a restroom.

March 20, 1980, New Jersey v. t.l.o went to trial court

May 12, 1982, The New Jersey Supreme Court agreed with the lower courts that the Fourth Amendment applies to searches conducted by school officials

01/15/1985, New Jersey .VS. T.L.O, Issue a search warrant :A High School girl was searched.

January 15, 1985, The Supreme Court approved the principal's search and affirmed the decision that T.L.O. was a juvenile delinquent.

sources
http://www.infoplease.com/us/supremecourt/cases/ar24.ht ml#ixzz1teYrUs00

http://www.infoplease.com/us/supremecourt/cases/ar24.html#ixzz1teYTkL1p

http://www.chacha.com/question/what-was-theimportance-in-the-decision-of-new-jersey-v-tlo

http://www.infoplease.com/us/supremecourt/cases/ar24.html

http://www.answers.com/topic/new-jersey-v-t-l-o1#ixzz1tcgNYnlc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_v._T._L._O

Long term and short term effect

It is beyond dispute that "the Federal Constitution, by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment, prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures by state officers." Equally indisputable is the proposition that the Fourteenth Amendment protects the rights of students against encroachment by public school officials. These two propositions -- that the Fourth Amendment applies to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment, and that the actions of public school officials are subject to the limits placed on state action by the Fourteenth Amendment -might appear sufficient to answer the suggestion that the Fourth Amendment does not proscribe unreasonable searches by school officials. On reargument, however, the State of New Jersey has argued that the history of the Fourth Amendment indicates that the Amendment was intended to regulate only searches and seizures carried out by law enforcement officers; accordingly, although public school officials are concededly state agents for purposes of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Fourth Amendment creates no rights enforceable against them. Short and long it mean that school officials must learn the state and federal laws related to search and seizure and that students sre protected against unlawful search and seizure, without probable cause a teacher cannot pursue matters like the students but long term it will be established that the odor of smoke gives the official cause to search and seize