Ethical Leadership/the Twenty Dollar Bill
Dan Bummer
ELAD 6073 School Law
Karen Curtner
October 20, 2012
“The Twenty Dollar Bill”
The case study “The Twenty Dollar Bill” involves students and their Fourth Amendment rights. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that citizens are free from unreasonable search and seizure from the government. However, school administration (an extension of government) does have the power to implement searches and seizures that may be outside of the constitutional scope in order to maintain good order and discipline in the school. This is evidenced by the Supreme Court case New Jersey vs. T.L.O where the Supreme Court ruled that requiring schools to obtain warrants for searches would interfere with the swift and informal disciplinary procedures needed in schools. However, the Supreme Court also stated that there must be reasonable grounds to conduct a search and it is limited to individualized suspicion and not group searches. Students do not shed their constitutional rights when they enter school grounds. In the case study “The Twenty Dollar Bill”, the students’ expectation of privacy outweighs the obligation of the school leaders to maintain good order and discipline in that there is no clear and reasonable threat to student safety or order. The students’ constitutional rights should not be jeopardized over twenty dollars. Furthermore, a bathroom search of any students must be reasonable related to the objectives of the search and must not be excessively intrusive. Since there was only twenty-dollars involved this case, a bathroom search would be highly unconstitutional considering the age of the students and amount of money involved. This is evidenced by a similar case Safford vs. Redding 2008. As an administrator, I would refrain from searching the students’ belongings or even their pockets. Instead, I would call the suspected students in for questioning. I would offer a small reward (non-monetary) to any student(s) who
ELAD 6073 School Law
Karen Curtner
October 20, 2012
“The Twenty Dollar Bill”
The case study “The Twenty Dollar Bill” involves students and their Fourth Amendment rights. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that citizens are free from unreasonable search and seizure from the government. However, school administration (an extension of government) does have the power to implement searches and seizures that may be outside of the constitutional scope in order to maintain good order and discipline in the school. This is evidenced by the Supreme Court case New Jersey vs. T.L.O where the Supreme Court ruled that requiring schools to obtain warrants for searches would interfere with the swift and informal disciplinary procedures needed in schools. However, the Supreme Court also stated that there must be reasonable grounds to conduct a search and it is limited to individualized suspicion and not group searches. Students do not shed their constitutional rights when they enter school grounds. In the case study “The Twenty Dollar Bill”, the students’ expectation of privacy outweighs the obligation of the school leaders to maintain good order and discipline in that there is no clear and reasonable threat to student safety or order. The students’ constitutional rights should not be jeopardized over twenty dollars. Furthermore, a bathroom search of any students must be reasonable related to the objectives of the search and must not be excessively intrusive. Since there was only twenty-dollars involved this case, a bathroom search would be highly unconstitutional considering the age of the students and amount of money involved. This is evidenced by a similar case Safford vs. Redding 2008. As an administrator, I would refrain from searching the students’ belongings or even their pockets. Instead, I would call the suspected students in for questioning. I would offer a small reward (non-monetary) to any student(s) who