Opinion of The Court
The Supreme Court of the United States, in a 6-3 decision issued by Justice White, between the individual's—even a child's—legitimate expectation of privacy and the school's interest in maintaining order and discipline, said that New Jersey won the case. According to school officials, they do require a "reasonable suspicion" to perform a search.
Therefore, her possession of any cigarettes was relevant to whether or not she was being truthful, and since she had been caught in the bathroom and taken directly to the office, it was reasonable to assume she had the cigarettes in her purse. Thus, the vice-principal had reasonable cause to suspect a school rule had been broken, and more than just a "hunch" to search the purse. When the vice-principal was searching for the cigarettes, the drug-related evide]. Plain view is an exception to the warrant requirement of the 4th Amendment. Thus, the reasonable search for cigarettes led to some of the drug related material being discovered, which justified a further search (including the zippered compartments inside the bag) resulting in the discovery of the cigarettes and other evidence including a small bag of marijuana and cigarette rolling papers. The Supreme Court overturned the New Jersey Supreme Court rulling.
The Court also stated that states have a duty to provide a safe school environment.
Read more about this topic: New Jersey V. T. L. O.
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