Search Of Student's Locker Was Reasonable Based On Reasonable Suspicion
An interesting case was recently handed down by the Eighth District Court of Appeals of Texas at El Paso. The case name is In re S.M.C. In this case, a middle school student informed an Assistant Principal that the juvenile in question was "high, you might want to check him out." The juvenile was taken to the nurse's office, inspected by the nurse and Assistant Principal, and claimed that he had pink eye. The nurse did not consider the student to be under the influence of drugs.
According to policy, schools officials search the student's belongings, backpack, person, pockets, and "if there is reasonable suspicion, we go ahead and continue to search lockers [and] vehicles, if we need." No drugs were found on the student or his belongings and the Assistance Principal directed the police to the defendant's locker because he might be hiding drugs. As police pulled out a backpack they saw a shiny object, which turned out to be brass knuckles.
The court of appeals concluded that the search was valid because the initial search of the juvenile was valid. The court of appeals found that the Assistant Principal and a police officer observed the juvenile to have red eyes with dilated pupils--which just so happens to be seen in people who smoke
marijuana. This factor, along with the factor that some students hide drugs in lockers, provided sufficient reasonable suspicion to support the search of the locker. The subsequent search of the locker was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances justifying the search in the first place.
Interestingly, the testimony of a medical professional that the student was not "high" coupled with the fact that no contraband was found on the pat-down, this court held that there was sufficient reasonable suspicion to justify the search of the locker. As you can see, the
Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures is beginning to become a thin sheath that is consistently being eroded.