The 4

th

Amendment
What are your
constitutional rights
in school regarding
your cell phones?
http://www.splc.org/wordpress/?p=
1246
http://www.splc.org/knowyourright
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http://www.splc.org/wordpress/?p=
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http://www.splc.org/wordpress/?p=
6382

The Fourth Amendment
to the Constitution
restricts the ability of
any government agency
including a public
school to seize a
persons property or
search the contents of
that property, including
a phone.
Within school, the
authority must only
prove reasonable
suspicion that the place
being searched contains
evidence of a violation,
either of the law or of
school regulations.
However, the search
must stay limited to the
place that could contain
the evidence being
sought.
BUT



-The authority to take away a phone is not
the same as the authority to search what is
recorded on it. Even if the school is within
its legal authority to confiscate a phone,
searching the contents of the phone is not
allowed unless there is reason to believe the
phone contains evidence of illegal or
prohibited behavior.

AT ANIMAS HIGH SCHOOL:
Animas High School reserves the right to examine and/or search all student
possessions when, in the judgment of school administrators and officials,
there is cause to believe that the student may be in possession of alcohol,
drugs, weapons, stolen goods, or any other materials that may be harmful or
disruptive to the school community.

BUT
The Constitution does not give you any special rights to insist on
having or using a cell phone on campus. It protects you only against
unreasonable seizures and searches.
-Using a cell phone on school grounds does
not automatically trigger an essentially
unlimited right enabling a school official to
search any content stored on the phone that
is not related either substantively or
temporally to the infraction.

The Fourth Amendment does protect students even while they are
in school, though school authorities need less justification to
authorize a search than police do.

THE FOURTH
AMENDMENT:
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.
TO ALL SCHOOLS:

The Fourth Amendment
applies with full force to
cellphones, even phones
that are lawfully
confiscated when used in
violation of school rules.