New Jersey Vs Tlo Case Study

Case Brief – New Jersey v. T.L.O
CJ3352XTIB

New Jersey v. T.L.O is a case concerning the privacy of T.L.O. being invaded, while claiming the Assistant Vice Principal violated the Fourth Amendment. A teacher in the school of T.L.O. smelled cigarette smoke and discovered two girls in the bathroom smoking cigarettes. One of the girls admitted to it, while T.L.O. denied that she was. T.L.O. was taken to the Assistant Vice Principal where he felt it was his duty to see if T.L.O. had cigarettes in her purse for justifiable cause. When he opened her purse, he found a pack a cigarette and noticed a pack of rolling papers. Since rolling papers are commonly used or associated with marihuana , he felt he needed to do a more diligent search of her purse.

Then, she was found guilty of having all of the items listed in the introduction in her purse on school’s premises. Being that she was a minor, her name was not released, therefore being called T.L.O. New Jersey went after T.L.O. after having substantial evidence against her. T.L.O. tried to claim that the Assistant Vice Principal had no reason to search her purse and that him doing that was against her Fourth Amendment rights. The Fourth Amendment states that “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized” (Constitution- 4th Amendment , 2015). Being that she was underage, the case was placed in the Juvenile Court of Middlesex County. In court, she moved to suppress evidence found in her purse and her confession, as well. The Juvenile Court denied the motion to suppress and found her guilty. The reviewing court was held with the New Jersey Supreme Court where they agreed with the Juvenile Court that T.L.O.’s Fourth Amendment rights were not violated. The issue before the court was the question, “Was her Fourth Amendment right violated by school

The New Jersey Supreme Court stated that it wasn’t a violation to have cigarettes; therefore, the Assistant Vice Principal did not have the rights to search her purse. The New Jersey Supreme Court “Because the search resulting in the discovery of the evidence of marihuana dealing by T. L. O. was reasonable, the New Jersey Supreme Court's decision to exclude that evidence from T. L. O.'s juvenile delinquency proceedings on Fourth Amendment grounds was erroneous. Accordingly, the judgment of the Supreme Court of New Jersey is Reversed” (Findlaw, June 2015). The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the ruling of the New Jersey Supreme Court. There were nine justices that decided the case. Two justices had a dissent, while four had a concurring opinion. Five justices had the majority