Students and the Fourth Amendment- Article Responses

'Sexting' Suit Tests Searches of Student Cell Phones
After reading about this pending court case, I was shocked to hear that a school official searched through the phone finding inappropriate pictures. While there is clearly tension between the privacy rights of students and the interest of school administrators in maintaining discipline, a school official has no right to explore a student's phone without probable. While the student may have been on the phone during school, she was not doing anything else wrong.  The school does have the right to take away her phone because she broke a school rule. However, it was not that she was engaging in any harmful behavior regarding drugs or alcohol on a school campus.  Therefore, the school did not have the right to search through her phone.  When she gave the phone to the official, she did not give up her rights. Furthermore, the school crossed the line because it was not like the pictures were on the main background of the phone. In order to get to pictures, someone must go through multiple steps and buttons. As the student states, search of the device, “is akin to browsing through someone’s address and appointment book, opening and reading letters sent by U.S. mail, and rummaging through a family photo album or viewing home videos.” This concept is completely accurate because technology has been more advanced than ever. With the iPhones, blackberries, etc, these smartphones give people many capabilities. Therefore, the school did not have the right to search through this phone given the fact that there was no probable cause that would disrupt the school enviorment. In class, we discussed many different cases regarding the fourth amendment in a school setting.  Legal searches are necessary when there is probable cause for inappropriate behavior. For instance if a school administrator is given a report that a member of the cheer leading team is selling drugs, they have the right to go check their locker. After all, the locker is school property.
While there are many situations in which a search is important and justified, this is not true with this case. In this case, the cell phone was her own possession and there was no information given about illegal activity occurring.