STATE in the Interest of T. L. O.

• Citation: 428 A.2d 1327,178 N.J.Super. 329
• Parties: Page 329 178 N.J.Super. 329 428 A.2d 1327 STATE in the Interest of T. L. O. Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, Middlesex County, New Jersey
• Decision Date: 26 September 1980
• Court: Superior Court of New Jersey

178 N.J.Super. 329

428 A.2d 1327

STATE in the Interest of T. L. O.

Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, Middlesex County, New Jersey.

Sept. 26, 1980

Frederick A. Simon, North Brunswick, for movant (Rosenberg & Simon, North Brunswick, attorneys).

Kenneth J. Lebrato, Asst. Pros., for the State of New Jersey.

NICOLA, P.J.J. & D.R.

This written opinion is intended to supplement the oral opinion previously rendered by the court.

A complaint was filed in this court alleging that a 15-year-old juvenile possessed marijuana with the intent to distribute, in violation of N.J.S.A. 24:21-20(a)(4) and 24:21-19(a)(1). The juvenile, herein referred to as T.L.O., was accused of illegally possessing marijuana found in her purse. Evidence obtained through a search of the juvenile's purse by a school's vice-principal indicated that the juvenile had been selling marijuana to other students in school.

Prior to this hearing on the complaint the juvenile filed a motion in the Superior Court, Middlesex County, Chancery Division, to show cause why T.L.O. should not be reinstated in school, having been suspended for smoking cigarettes and possessing marijuana. Judge David Furman, J.S.C., heard the matter on March 31, 1980 and upheld the suspension for smoking cigarettes but vacated the suspension imposed for possession of marijuana. The court found that the suspension for possession of marijuana resulted from evidence obtained in a warrantless search of the juvenile's purse, in violation of the Fourth Amendment's guarantees against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Presently before the court for its consideration is a motion to dismiss the complaint and suppress the evidence. The juvenile argues that the complaint should be dismissed on the basis of res judicata and collateral estoppel stemming from the prior proceeding. Additionally, the juvenile argues that her due process rights were violated by an unlawful search and seizure conducted by the assistant vice-principal and seeks to have this evidence suppressed.

This complaint arises from an occurrence on March 7, 1980. A Piscataway High School teacher observed the juvenile and another girl smoking cigarettes while in the girls' lavatory. The teacher escorted the girls to the assistant vice-principal's office and accused them of violating the school's no-smoking restriction. When asked by the vice-principal whether she had, in fact, been smoking in the girls' room, T.L.O. replied that "she didn't smoke at all." With this conflicting response the vice-principal requested the student's purse and upon inspection found a package of cigarettes plainly visible. While removing the cigarettes, marijuana and marijuana paraphernalia became visible. Further inspection revealed $40.98 in single dollar bills and change, as well as a handwritten letter by T.L.O. to a friend asking her to sell marijuana in school.

The assistant vice-principal summoned the police and turned over the marijuana and paraphernalia to them. The juvenile's parents were also notified. In the presence of her mother at police headquarters, T.L.O. admitted to selling marijuana in school, after being advised of her rights. She stated that on the day in question, she had sold approximately 18 to 20 marijuana cigarettes for a price of one dollar each.

T.L.O. was suspended from school for three days for smoking cigarettes and seven days for possession of marijuana. As previously indicated, the juvenile obtained an order to show cause why she should not be reinstated in school. At the hearing on that matter the judge found that the search conducted by the vice-principal violated the Fourth Amendment guarantees. Any consent to the search of the purse by the juvenile was ruled ineffective due to a failure to advise her that she had a right to withhold such consent.

The juvenile now seeks to raise the findings of the civil proceeding as a bar to this matter through a motion to dismiss. She asserts the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel. Additionally, the juvenile wishes to suppress the evidence by addressing the constitutionality of the search conducted by the vice-principal.

This court will first address the constitutionality of the search and seizure; more specifically, the issue is whether or not a school official is subject to the Fourth Amendment and the standard of probable cause which must exist before said official may engage in a search of a student on school grounds in order to enforce a disciplinary rule.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated ...."

The Fourth Amendment does not prohibit all searches and seizures, but only unreasonable ones. The reasonableness of a search is determined by a balancing of the government's interests in conducting a search with the individual's right to be free from intrusion. See Camara v. Municipal Court, 387 U.S. 523, 87 S.Ct. 1727, 18 L.Ed.2d 930 (1967). Generally, police officials are required to obtain a search warrant based upon probable cause except for a few "jealously and carefully drawn" exceptions. Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443, 91 S.Ct. 2022, 29 L.Ed.2d 564 (1971). To avoid circumvention of the probable cause requirement through warrantless searches the same standard of probable cause is imposed to justify a warrantless search. Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441 (1963). There have been instances, however, where the government's need to search has been held to outweigh the intrusion upon the person's privacy, and the Supreme Court has allowed a lower standard as justification for a constitutionally valid search. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88, S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968) (stop and frisk); United States v. Martinez-Fuerte 428 U.S. 543, 96 S.Ct. 3074, 49 L.Ed.2d 1116 (1976) (routine stops at permanent border checkpoints).

The Supreme Court, however, has long been vigilant in protecting the rights secured by the Fourth Amendment, as is evidenced by its adoption of the exclusionary rule. The exclusionary rule, as enunciated in Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383, 34 S.Ct. 341, 58 L.Ed. 652 (1914), allows suppression of evidence seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Initially applied only in federal courts, Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081 (1961) has since extended the rule to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. However, the court has held that the Fourth Amendment's proscription only applies to unreasonable searches and seizures made by governmental officials. Burdeau v. McDowell, 256 U.S. 465, 41 S.Ct. 574, 65 L.Ed. 1048 (1921).

The vigilance of the Supreme Court is evidenced as well by its recognition of the constitutional rights and protections belonging to juveniles. In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 87 S.Ct. 1428, 18 L.Ed.2d 527 (1967) (procedural due process); In re Winship, 397 U.S., 358, 90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970) (requiring proof beyond a reasonable doubt).

The court has made it clear that juveniles, as students, do not lose their constitutional rights when they enter the school house. Tinker v. Des Moines School Dist., 393 U.S. 503, 89 S.Ct. 733, 21 L.Ed.2d 731 (1969). Tinker involved an expression of First Amendment rights by high school students. The students were suspended for wearing black arm bands to protest the hostilities of the Vietnam War. The court held that the students' actions constituted speech protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution, and that they therefore could not be suspended for expressing their views in a non-disruptive manner:

The principal use to which the schools are dedicated is to accommodate students during prescribed hours for the purpose of certain types of activities. Among those activities is personal intercommunication among the students. This is not only an inevitable part of the process of attending school; it is also an important part of the educational process. A student's rights, therefore, do not embrace merely the classroom hours. When he is in the cafeteria, or on the playing field, or on the campus during the authorized hours, he may express his opinions, even on controversial subjects like the conflict in Vietnam, if he does so without "materially and substantially interfer(ing) with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school" and without colliding with the rights of others. Burnside v. Byars, 363 F.2d 744, 749 (5th Cir. 1966). (Tinker v. Des Moines School Dist., 393 U.S. at 512-13, 89 S.Ct. at 739-40; footnotes omitted)

Yet, the court specifically went on to limit the First Amendment rights given to students:

But conduct by the student, in class or out of it, which for any reason whether it stems from time, place, or type of behavior materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others is, of course, not immunized by the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech. (Ibid.)

This limitation, intended to protect the classroom decorum, was also recognized in Goss v. Lopez, 419 U.S. 565, 95 S.Ct. 729, 42 L.Ed.2d 725 (1975). Although Tinker and Goss did not deal with the Fourth Amendment rights of students, the same recognition of schoolroom decorum appears to be appropriate when dealing with Fourth Amendment rights. State v. McKinnon, 88 Wash.2d 75, 558 P.2d 781 (Sup.Ct.1977).

Indeed, the rights of juveniles are not coextensive with the rights of adults, regardless of their student status. The Supreme Court has stated:

... (E)ven where there is an invasion of protected freedoms "the power of the state to control the conduct of children reaches beyond the scope of its authority over adults ... The well-being of its children is of course a subject within the State's constitutional power to regulate ... (P)arents and others, teachers...