2
C
ASE: 1
BACKGROUND
· A teacher informed the principal of a high school that Je rey Snyder, a student at the school,
attempted to sell illegal drugs (marijuana) to another student.
· Without informing Je rey, the principal authorized a search of his locker while he was in class.
School administrators found marijuana in his locker.
· Based upon the search, Je rey was called into the principal's o ce. When confronted with the
marijuana found in his locker, he confessed to possession of marijuana with intent to sell to other
students.
· Je rey claimed that the school violated the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution
by failing to obtain a search warrant before seizing the illegal drugs from his locker.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
You Be the Judge!
You Be the Judge!
What is the Fourth Amendment of the
United States Constitution?
The Fourth Amendment protects persons
accused of crimes by requiring a search
warrant before government o cials can
search a person, a home, or any place where
a person has a "reasonable expectation of
privacy."
What is a "reasonable expectation of
privacy"?
Under the Fourth Amendment, the U.S.
Supreme Court asserts that a person has a
"reasonable expectation of privacy" when:
(1) the individual SUBJECTIVELY believes
that a particular area is private, such as a car,
a locker, a pocketbook, or a home, and (2)
OBJECTIVELY, whether society recognizes that
expectation as reasonable. As such, the court
looks to the subjective intent of the person
being searched (for example, did the person
in fact believe that a certain area was private?)
and to the objective intent as to whether that
person's belief of privacy will be recognized by
society as a whole.
What is a search warrant?
In the majority of cases, before searching
areas where a person has a reasonable
expectation of privacy, the government
(the police) must obtain written permission
from a judge to conduct a search. The police
must support their request with facts that
show they have extremely good reasons,
or "probable cause," to conduct a search.
If permission is granted, the court issues a
search warrant.
What is Balancing School Safety/
Disciplinary Policies with Students'
Constitutional Rights?
In cases of searching students' lockers,
the law requires the court to balance the
constitutional rights of the student against
the need for school o cials to keep the school
safe and orderly for all students.
Commonwealth v. Snyder
Fourth Amendment Protection Against Unreasonable
Searches and Seizures
For Evaluation Purposes Only