Legal Opinion For 8th Social Studies Essay, Research Paper

Legal Opinion

A. I picked the side of New Jersey in the New Jersey vs. T.L.O case. The reason I picked that side is because the girl whas smoking on school grounds and she was not allowed to do that. Another reason is the teacher that found the girl smoking had the right to bring her to the Principals office, because she had a reason to. Finally the girl denied smoking, she said she didn?t smoke and she probably would of got in less trouble if she told the truth.

B. A girl was caught smoking in a shcool bathroom. A teacher caught her and took her to the Principals office to be searched. The vice-principal found more than just cigarettes, they also found rolling papers, marijuana, a pipe, a large amount of cash, and an index card with a list of student names and amounts of money owed to her. The Juvenille Court prosecuted T.L.O for drug dealing. T.L.O ploted that the search was unconstitutional and was breaking her rights under the 4th amendment. Juvenille Court still thought that it was alright to search her bag because the school had a suspicious reason for commiting a crime. The case then went to the Supreme Court, they ruled that the school by any means had the right to search T.L.O

C. The New Jersey High School had the right to search T.L.O. The Fourth Amendment say?s that nobody has the right to search someone for no reason unless there is a probable cause. For that means the school had no reason to search the girl. The law for searching in a school is different. You are allowed to search only if you have a reason. For that means the school did have a reason.

The school also had the right to search the girl, because a teacher found the girl smoking in the bathroom, It clearly says that smoking was not allowed on school grounds. On top of that the girl lied about smoking. That makes everything worse for the girl. The teacher found the girl smoking in the bathroom, but T.L.O denied it, in the search the Vice-President found cigarettes. That has got to mean she smokes.

D.If I were the opposing view I would think the search was wrong because there was no probable causeand there was no evidence for her smoking. The school could of taken a breath check or some indication that she was smoking. I would have got mad because the cigarette could have been someone elses and it just was on the ground when the teacher saw it.

E. I thought the search of T.L.O was constitutional and if someone was smoking and she was caught I would search that someone just for the better of the school and the Students. All searches on a school area are illegal unless there is a reason.