In the case of New Jersey vs. TLO, I rule in favor of the petitioner,the state of New Jersey. In this case, I found no reason in the claims made byTLO and her defense. They claimed that the search conducted by school officialswas unconstitutional. These officials were searching her purse for cigarettes,which she was caught smoking in the bathroom. During the search for thecigarettes they found the cigarettes, rolling papers used for making joints, alist of names with quantities of money owed to TLO, and finally a bag ofmarijuana.
TLO says that she cannot be tried for any of these offenses, becauseshe was violated of her rights promised in amendment 4, unlawful search andseizure. Yet, the incriminating items were found at the same time as thecigarettes, and given reasonable cause for suspicion, the school does have thelegal right to search its students, and finally, the school officials had theright to search her purse because there was a reasonable doubt of her claimingto innocence being true.
TLO’s 4th amendment rights were however, in fact not violated due to thereasonable cause and suspicion of her smoking, so the search was trulyreasonable. And there is the fact that the teacher caught her smoking. Obviously it is the teacher’s responsibility to take the student to theprincipal for suspension or other means of punishment. When TLO was askedwhether or not she had been smoking, she said no.
The school officials then had a reasonable doubt, and they now had byall legal means the right to search TLO for evidence that she had been smoking. The search of her purse, if she had been innocent, would have proved herinnocent, or guilty if she actually was guilty. The search was conductedprivately, and was by no means humiliating to TLO.
Finally the officials did search TLO’s purse for any kind of evidence,to prove her innocent, or guilty. They, in the process of the search, found allthe following incriminating items: the cigarettes, rolling papers used formaking joints, a list of names with quantities of money owed to TLO, and a bagof marijuana. The order in which they were found is still unclear. None theless all these items were found during the search which was justified by thesuspicion of her smoking.
Due to obvious reason, the search was justified, and thereby proves thatthe bringing of this case to the supreme court is illogical, and utterlysenseless. TLO was caught smoking, and with a reasonable doubt, the schoolofficials searched her purse, in the process of the search, they foundincriminating items, and therefor proved her testimony to be a lie. The schoolofficials did no violate her 4th amendment, because they had a reasonable doubt.
Finally, now TLO should be dealt her due punishment for her wrongs, and stopusing the constitution to try and elude those punishments.
