New Jersey v. T. L. O.

Summary

The Court held that the Fourth Amendment applies to searches conducted by public school officials, but school searches need not satisfy the warrant and probable-cause requirements ordinarily applicable to law-enforcement searches. A search is permissible when justified at inception by reasonable grounds to suspect evidence of a law or school-rule violation and when its scope is reasonably related to the objective and not excessively intrusive. Applying that standard, the Court held that the search of the student's purse was reasonable and reversed the judgment suppressing the evidence.