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"Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006": Permitting more school searches?

By Last Night in Little Rock, Section Civil Liberties
Posted on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 04:51:55 AM EST
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by Last Night in Little Rock

Overnight I received an e-mail from the Youth Policy Action Center: Say "No" to More Student Searches /
Posted by: Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy is asking for your help to stop a bill that would further curtail the rights of students in public schools all across the country. The so-called "Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006" (H.R. 5295) would make it easier for teachers and school administrators to search students' lockers and bags for drugs and other contraband. SSDP needs your help to make sure that this bill never becomes law.

H.R. 5295 would allow school officials to search dozens or even hundreds of students based on the mere suspicion that just one student brought drugs to school. This kind of justification allowed police officers to storm a high school in Goose Creek, SC, in 2003, forcing dozens of students to the ground and pointing guns directly at their faces during a misguided raid in which no drugs were found.

This bill is nothing more than another attack on the constitutional rights of young people by the federal government. Students should never have to check their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door.

The bill can be found on thomas.gov. It was introduced on May 4, 2006. The "congressional findings" are in § 2.

SEC. 3. SEARCHES ON COLORABLE SUSPICION.

(a) In General-- Each State, local educational agency, and school district shall have in effect throughout the jurisdiction of the State, agency, or district, as the case may be, policies that ensure that a search described in subsection (b) is deemed reasonable and permissible.

(b) Searches Covered-- A search referred to in subsection (a) is a search by a full-time teacher or school official, acting on any colorable suspicion based on professional experience and judgment, of any minor student on the grounds of any public school, if the search is conducted to ensure that classrooms, school buildings, and school property remain free of all weapons, dangerous materials, or illegal narcotics.

SEC. 4. ENCOURAGEMENT TO PROTECT STUDENTS AND TEACHERS.

(a) In General- A State, local educational agency, or school district that fails to comply with section 3 shall not, during the period of noncompliance, receive any Safe Schools and Citizenship Education funds after fiscal year 2008.

The sponsor is Geoff Davis, R-KY4, and his home page today shows a news release posting from September 15 about hearings this week.

First question: Where is the federal interest? Another Republican interested in more federal interference in our lives? No, re-election politics. He has an opponent for re-election. Just Google him.

Second question: When his staffers wrote this thing, why did they use "colorable suspicion" instead of reasonable suspicion? Do they intend it be defined to provide less protection than the Fourth Amendment, which already permits broad searches in schools?

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    "Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006": Permitting more school searches? | 8 comments (8 topical)
    Re: "Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006": Perm (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 06:02:20 AM EST
    Gotta wonder what the NEA and the various teacher unions say about this.

    Re: "Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006": Perm (none / 0) (#2)
    by cpinva on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 08:58:36 AM EST
    ok, another suggestion: just have them all come in naked, and allow nothing to be brought in from home. they can all use those gym lockers, the kind that are grated, not solid. there, i've eliminated the need for this bill entirely. the same rules can apply to flying: fly naked! oh, no writing either. never know what mischief they'll get into, or what plots they'll be hatching. forget "dumbing down" grades, we are quickly "dumbing down" the entire damn country!

    Re: "Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006": Perm (none / 0) (#3)
    by Gabriel Malor on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 08:58:36 AM EST
    1. This law is merely a codification of existing case law. New Jersey v. T.L.O. established in 1985 that school officials can conduct searches without a warrant and based only on reasonable suspicion. To hold this out as something new is deeply misleading. 2. Note the actual statutory language: "search by a full-time teacher or school official." This is exactly the holding in New Jersey v. T.L.O. It does not include "police officers [storming] a high school." It is also deeply misleading to claim that this bill would allow the type of violation seen in Goose Creek.

    Re: "Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006": Perm (none / 0) (#4)
    by Gabriel Malor on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 09:30:51 AM EST
    And on a closer look at the bill in question, I discovered that the bill itself recites the judicial authority on which it is premised. The fact that you and the Youth Policy Action Center fail to note that this is already law is doubly egregious. Shame on you.

    Re: "Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006": Perm (none / 0) (#5)
    by zak822 on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 11:13:10 AM EST
    Student and teacher safety has nothing to do with this. Conservatives long ago decided the probable cause was too limiting. Probable cause has given way to "reasonable suspicion". We see it now at all levels of government. Americans will come to regret this gradual erosion of Constitutional protections, but those who advocate for this sort of thing will never admit responsibility. I wonder what they'll say when President H. Clinton makes use of these laws.

    Re: "Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006": Perm (none / 0) (#7)
    by kdog on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 03:14:52 PM EST
    Much like our new airport security measures...I see this as the conditioning of the citizenry to accept unnecessary government intrusion.

    Re: "Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006": Perm (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 03:14:53 PM EST
    I read Gabriel Malor's responses and, while I have no "legal" background, it seems another "reach to far". So, because somebody (or nobody) is under suspicion, EVERYBODY gets searched. I can't fathom a reson for a thoughtful person to think this is ok. Has the "fear culture" of the Bush administration finally make it into schools? Because one does (or doesn't) do something, we all get blamed. Sir, that is insane! I mean insane! What "safety" measures are next; and who watches the watchers? We are moving toward a fascist society where most inalienable rights are getting tossed aside because people are too lazy to do their jobs. If the folks who are supposed to keep our schools safe cannot do their job without destroying civil rights in the process, then they should quit or get fired. We shouldn't have to live under tyranny because paid professionals cannot provide adequate security. Security isn't the issue here, sir. If it were, there would be seat belts in school buses.

    Re: "Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006": Perm (none / 0) (#8)
    by Patrick on Mon Sep 18, 2006 at 05:04:30 PM EST
    Hey, Chillin next to the ocean in Pacific Grove, checking the highlights, and just happened to wander across this thread... I read read the post and was thinking...They can already do this, so why is it even necessary, then I read GM's comments and authority confirmed that, so why are we trying to create a controversy...Isn't that a bit like closing the barn door after the cows have escaped...?? This law has nothing to do with law enforcement. If they conduct a search as an agent of L.E. they would still need a search warrant.

    "Student and Teacher Safety Act of 2006": Permitting more school searches? | 8 comments (8 topical)