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After lower courts and appeals, the Supreme Court ruled that school officials need only \"reasonable grounds\" rather than a search warrant, upholding the conviction under the Fourth Amendment.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/","Exam",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/but-school-officials-must-have-reasonable-grounds-for-search/423134/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/but-school-officials-must-have-reasonable-grounds-for-search/423134.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Dipper","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-09-28",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":33},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What evidence led to the search in the T.L.O. case?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"A teacher saw two girls smoking in the girls room and took them to the principal’s office. After questioning by the vice principal, evidence including cigarettes and marijuana, plus letters indicating drug dealing, was found.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"Why did T.L.O.’s lawyers challenge the search?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"They argued the evidence was obtained through an illegal search because the school official had no search warrant, violating the Fourth Amendment.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"What standard did the U.S. Supreme Court apply to school searches?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"The Court held that schools are special places and officials do not need a search warrant; they need only \"reasonable grounds\" to suspect the search will uncover evidence of a student’s violation of law or school 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cigarettes.Healso found marijuana and two letters thatindicated that the girl was selling mari-juana to other students in the school.  \n# But School OfficialsMust Have\"ReasonableGrounds\"for Search\n\nConfronted with the evidence,T.L.O.admitted to selling marijuana.Choplickcalled the police.The girl was arrested,tried,and convicted.The judge sen-tenced her to one year's probation.  \nWASHINGTON,D.C.—On January  \n15,the U.S.Supreme Court decided acase that may have far-reaching effectson U.S.schools.The case involved aschool's right to search students for evi-dence of wrongdoing.Here are the factsbehind the case:  \nHer Case Is Appealed  \nBut the case of New Jersey v.T.L.O.did not end there.TL.O.'s lawyers ap-pealed the case to the New Jersey Su-preme Court.Even though evidence ofdrug dealing was found in TLO.'s purse,argued the lawyers,it should not havebeen used as evidence against her.  \nIn March 1980,a teacher at Piscata-way High School in New Jersey saw twogirls smoking cigarettes in the girls room.The teacher took the girls to the princi-pal's office,where they were questionedby the vice-principal,Theodore Choplick.  \nWhy?Because,argued the lawyers,theevidence was obtained through an illegal  \nOne of the girls admitted smoking inthe girls room—a violation of school  \nsearch.Choplick had no search warrant.Thus he had violated T.LO.'s rights un-der the Fourth Amendment to the U.S.Constitution.The Fourth Amendmentstates that no U.S.citizen may be searchedor seized unless authorities first get awarrant,which is an official documentsetting out good reasons that the personshould be searched or seized.  \nBy a 5 to 2 decision,the justices onthe New Jersey Supreme Court sup-ported the argument of T.L.O.'s law-yers.They agreed that Choplick's searchwas illegal—and overturned the girl'sconviction for drug selling.  \nOn to the U.S.Supreme Court  \nBut T.L.O.was not free yet.Lawyersfor the state of New Jersey took New  \nContinued on next page  \nContinuedfrom Page1  \nJersey v.T.L.0.to the U.S.SupremeCourt—the nation's highest court.Thelawyers argued that to require school of-ficials to get search warrants would tietheir hands in combating crime in theschools.Schools are special places,saidthe state's lawyers,in which all the re-strictions of the Fourth Amendment neednot apply.  \nThe nine Supreme Court justices heardthe arguments of both sides in the case.By a margin of 6 to 3,the justices de-cided for the state of New Jersey andagainst T.L.O.The Court agreed thatschools are special places in which allthe rules of the Fourth Amendment don'tapply.School officials don't need a searchwarrant,said the Court.All school of-ficials need are \"reasonable grounds\"tosuspect that a search would turn up evi-  \ndence that a student was violating the lawor the rules of the school.Since Cho-plick had had \"reasonable grounds,\"hissearch was legal,and T.LO.'s convic-tion for drug selling was upheld.  \nFor and Against the Decision  \nSchool officials around the nationgenerally cheered the decision.Manyviewed it as a help in keeping law andorder in the schools.  \n\"You must have order in the schools,\"commented Frank Tracy,a Maryland highschool principal.“This seems to be a wayof [the Supreme Court's]saying [to prin-cipals and teachers],'we support you.We want you to do a good job.'”  \nA pleased Albert Shanker,presidentof the American Federation of Teachers,a teachers union,said ofthe decision:\"Itsends a message to students that schoolbuildings are...off premises totroublemakers.\"  \n\n|  | Focus on the News   |  |  |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| How the  \u003Cbr>Supreme Court  \u003Cbr>Decides Cases  \u003Cbr>The Supreme Court acts as a kind of u  \u003Cbr>pire to make sure legal rulings obey the U.  \u003Cbr>Constitution.As the highest court in the U.  \u003Cbr>it usually examines decisions from lowercou  \u003Cbr>that have been challenged—such as the st  \u003Cbr>dent search decision.(The Supreme Court   \u003Cbr>r","cbCaipenskAcHzS7","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipenskAcHzS7","pdf",2521394,"English","# But School Officials Must Have \"Reasonable Grounds\" for Search\n## Her Case Is Appealed\n## On to the U.S. Supreme Court\n## For and Against the Decision\n## Focus on the News: How the Supreme Court Decides Cases","[{\"question\":\"What evidence led to the search in the T.L.O. case?\",\"answer\":\"A teacher saw two girls smoking in the girls room and took them to the principal’s office. After questioning by the vice principal, evidence including cigarettes and marijuana, plus letters indicating drug dealing, was found.\"},{\"question\":\"Why did T.L.O.’s lawyers challenge the search?\",\"answer\":\"They argued the evidence was obtained through an illegal search because the school official had no search warrant, violating the Fourth Amendment.\"},{\"question\":\"What standard did the U.S. Supreme Court apply to school searches?\",\"answer\":\"The Court held that schools are special places and officials do not need a search warrant; they need only \\\"reasonable grounds\\\" to suspect the search will uncover evidence of a student’s violation of law or school rules.\"}]","But School Officials Must Have \"Reasonable Grounds\" for Search | PDF",1790630306,23]