4th Amendment- Unlawful Searches & Seizures (school searches)
School searches are fair
Side Score: 23
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School searches are unfair
Side Score: 18
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Opening Statement: Ron Paul once said, “The fourth amendment is clear; we should be secure in our persons, houses, papers and effects, and all warrants must have probable cause.” Schools should be allowed to search students and their belongings while they are in school. First of all, about 17% of high school students in the United States students drink, smoke, use drugs during the school day. There are multiple court cases that show the importance of staff members being allowed to search students for illegal objects to insure safety for both the students and staff members at the school. Second, students on the school campus are not in their own homes they are on someone else’s property. The school should be able to search lockers because they do not belong to the students. Third, one statistic states that every school day, at least 100,000 students in the United States bring guns. From 2013 till now, 160 incidents have occurred including fatal and nonfatal assaults, suicides, and unintentional shootings in schools in the United States. To ensure that these incidents don’t occur staff members of a school should be allowed to search students, if there is reasonable suspicion. Side: School searches are fair
One example of a court case handling illegal drug use at school happened in April, 2012. “Christian Alaniz, Jr., age 18, was seen in an area known for drug activities. He was brought to the principal’s office and asked to empty his pockets. When he did, a glass pipe and synthetic marijuana was found.” Alaniz then challenged the search, to weather it went against the fourth amendment. Side: School searches are fair
If a teacher indulges into a student's possessions inside school, the laws may go against them and not the student. If someone is searching someone's clothes or belongings, he/she must have a warrant or be a police officer to conduct the search. This is stated by the 4th Amendment. Side: School searches are unfair
Another incident happened in a New Jersey High School were a girl was found smoking in the bathroom and denied doing it when she was asked about it in the principal’s office. The assistant principal demanded to search through her purse, and when she did, she found multiple objects that are against the law and school rules. When this case was taken to court, it was debated to be going against the fourth amendment, but later on was declared as a reasonable search. If these searches had not occurred, then these students would have carried on taking in and smoking illegal substances. Side: School searches are fair
Second Argument: Students on the school campus are not in their own homes they are on someone else’s property. The fourth amendment states that, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Side: School searches are fair
When schools search through lockers, they are not searching through the student’s property, since the locker is a belonging of the school. There have been a couple of cases where the students have sued schools for looking through their locker. These students don’t win the cases or go through with them, because the lockers are not on their own property and it is not their belonging. The school should be able to search lockers because they do not belong to the students. There are also other solutions to searching for They could do general searches such as metal detectors, etc. for all students. (Although, the student should be there in person during the searches.) to ensure the safety of all the people working and attending the school. Side: School searches are fair
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The school may search through lockers but not through personal belongings inside the lockers. Lockers are not personal property of the students, so searches through lockers could be done. But, searches through belongings which are private or personal inside lockers cannot be done. Side: School searches are unfair
All incidents can be avoided by allowing teachers to check students belonging for dangerous hazards such as knifes, guns, bombs, and many other harmful objects. An example of a court case approached by a gun occurred in Delaware State University in 2015. “A 20-year-old student shot and killed Lakeytrice Quinn, 24, and shot and injured Alexandra Hicks, 26, in the parking lot of a dormitory on campus during an argument. A campus police officer who witnessed the incident shot at the assailant twice, but did not hit him. The perpetrator was arrested and charged with murder.” Side: School searches are fair
If a teacher suspects that a student brought something into the school that is totally prohibited, he or she should talk with them or report it. They shouldn't search students. If someone thinks a specific student has drug in his/her possession, they must tell a teacher and they have to call the police and let them analyze the case, teachers cannot interfere on anything or the case might go against them. Side: School searches are unfair
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Even if a lot of cases have happened over time, teachers and staff should not be held responsible for this. It is the parents responsibility to handle what their children bear from home. Teachers should be guiding students and helping them, not providing evidence on troublemakers. Or, police could be handling searches with metal detectors instead. Schools should not be indulging in students or their belongings. Side: School searches are unfair
Closing Statement: In conclusion, the use of drugs and smoking during school, students not being on their own property, and the number of shootings in schools by students strongly prove that school searches should be permitted. There are also many more arguments to prove that schools should be allowed to search students and their belongings while they are in school when there is reasonable suspicion. Side: School searches are fair
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Opening Statement Schools shouldn’t be allowed to search students and their belongings while they are in school. This is shouldn’t be allowed for several different reasons. Juvenile students have 4th Amendment rights. They have the right “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures”. This means that schools have limited authority to indulge in unreasonable searches. Also, school staff are not responsible for what students bear. Their parents should take responsibility of what students carry. Teachers shouldn’t be needing to create evident on specific troublemakers; instead, they should be teaching students. Parents should know what students carry with them. In addition, numerous students are extremely uncomfortable with people searching their clothes. Again, it violates their 4th amendment rights. Teachers shouldn’t be going through students belongings for certain reasons. Students may not feel comfortable because they have personal property they don’t want others to see. Also, backpacks shouldn’t be checked because they are personally bought by the student. It is their personal property which they own, unlike lockers. Searching students belongings may also result in humiliation because there could be medications which turn up, which could be embarrassing. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes sure against “arbitrary interference” with privacy. Teachers should not search a student unless there is an ethical reason to do so. Searches should not occur, but if they do, they should be proceeded with metal detectors, or something like that. Side: School searches are unfair
argument 1 Schools shouldn’t be allowed to search students and their belongings while they are in school because teachers are not accountable for what students bring with them into campus. A teacher’s concentration should be to teach, help, and guide students. Students’ parents should take responsibility of what students bear. Their attention should not be on broadening evidence on specific student who is a troublemaker. Items taken from home by students are supposed to be handled by their parents. If there is a rumor that a student is bringing drugs to school teachers cannot look into their possessions, they have to call the police and let them do their job. If the student has a knife all teachers can do is ask him/her to show what they have on their pockets. Side: School searches are unfair
The teachers should be able to check students' belongings with a reasonable suspicion to prevent incidents from occurring such as shootings and stabbings. And if it makes the student uncomfortable the schools should find other ways to search students. Side: School searches are fair
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Argument 2: Juvenile students have 4th Amendment rights. They have the right “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures”. This means that schools have limited authority to indulge in unreasonable searches. Clothes searches should be done under a reasonable manner. Warrant: searches can only be done under a warrant. It is usually illegal and immoderate perform a search without a warrant. Searches through clothes and belongings could rather be done with metal detectors or something like that by the police if necessary. Side: School searches are unfair
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Court Case Savana Redding was a 13-year-old student. A male student reported that another girl, Marissa Glines, had given him a prescription-strength ibuprofen pill. A search of Marissa’s day planner and pockets revealed more of the pills and home weapons. Marissa then reported the day planner belonged to Savana, and that Savana had given her the pills. Savana was then searched – a search which included not only her backpack and pockets, but also inside her undergarments. She sued the school district for violating her rights. The strip search by school officials in this case was not legal. It was unreasonable considering the nature of the offense and the facts of the case. Side: School searches are unfair
argument 3 Searching students belongings may also result in humiliation because there could be medications which turn up, which could be embarrassing. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes sure against “arbitrary interference” with privacy. Teachers should not search a student unless there is an ethical reason to do so. Searches should not occur, but if they do, they should be proceeded with metal detectors, or something like that. Humiliation could end up having massive effects on students. They could be depressed, or even stop coming to school. This could also end up in bullying. Others could bully a student who has medication or something else embarrasing in their bags, Side: School searches are unfair
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Closing statement In conclusion, school searches shouldn't be done because teachers are not responsible for what students bear, juvenile students have 4th amendment rights, and searching students could end up in humiliation. These reasons show why schools should not be searching students or their belongings. Side: School searches are unfair
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