Search and Seizure in Public Schools
The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.
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What's at Stake
Today, concern about drugs and violence sometimes trumps privacy rights. For example, federal courts have found that students’ Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures do no always apply in a public school setting. The ACLU believes that schools are not constitutional dead zones and continues to fight for students’ privacy rights, challenging unreasonable strip-searches and seizures of property such as cell phones.
Today, concern about drugs and violence sometimes trumps privacy rights. For example, federal courts have found that students’ Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures do no always apply in a public school setting. The ACLU believes that schools are not constitutional dead zones and continues to fight for students’ privacy rights, challenging unreasonable strip-searches and seizures of property such as cell phones.