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	New Jersey v. TLO (1985)

T.L.O. was a fourteen-year-old; she was accused of smoking in the girls' bathroom of her high school. A principal at the school questioned her and searched her purse, yielding a bag of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia.


	Did the search violate the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments?



		US Supreme Court Justice Byron White


		No. Citing the peculiarities associated with searches on school grounds, the Court abandoned its requirement that searches be conducted only when a "probable cause" exists that an individual has violated the law. The Court used a less strict standard of "reasonableness" to conclude that the search did not violate the Constitution. The presence of rolling papers in the purse gave rise to a reasonable suspicion in the principal's mind that T.L.O. may have been carrying drugs, thus, justifying a more thorough search of the purse.



		School officials are state agents when enforcing disciplinary rules mandated by law. Officials may search without a warrant using reasonable suspicion of a violation of the law or school rules. For a full summary of this case, go to: http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1983/1983_83_712/