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NJ: Search of student's car on school parking lot governed by T.L.O.

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Search of a student's car on a school parking lot is governed by the reasonable suspicion standard of T.L.O.. State v. Best, 2008 N.J. Super. LEXIS 230 (November 10, 2008): This appeal presents the question of whether a school principal who suspects that evidence of criminal activity will be found in a student's car parked on school grounds is required to have probable cause before searching that vehicle or whether, instead, the reasonable suspicion standard approved by our Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court in State in re T.L.O., 94 N.J. 331, 346 (1983), rev'd on other grounds sub nom. New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325, 105 S. Ct. 733, 83 L. Ed. 2d 720 (1985), governs. We conclude that the privacy interests of students are outweighed by the substantial interest of teachers and administrators in maintaining a drug-free environment in the classroom and on school grounds...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on November 11, 2008 (boomark / email).