Best V. New Jersey Case

Madelyn Spalvins
Nemecheck Block 6
September 18th, 2013
School administrators and law enforcement officers have different regulations when a search or seizure is being conducted, especially concerning that of a minor. School administrators only need reasonable suspicion to search a student while law enforcement officers must have probable cause. In the cases of Best V. New Jersey and Safford V. Redding, the issues of search and seizure of a student in school are laid out in different scenarios that clearly portray the difference between a constitutional search and an unconstitutional search. The concept of reasonable suspicion is sufficient for the extended search in the Best V. New Jersey case because the student was in clear violation of school policy and the search was necessary to maintain safety and order in the school;
In order to have reasonable suspicion, school administrators must have sufficient knowledge to believe that a crime has been or is about to be committed. This differs from the grounds of probable cause because the officers must have sufficient and accurate facts to believe that a crime has been or is about to be committed. Reasonable suspicion for school administrators could be as simple as a rumor. Once that rumor is brought to attention, administration is expected to perform an investigation and if a search and seizure is required of them, it must be a search relative to the scope of the issue at hand. For example, a search of a student’s locker or car on school property with the belief that there may be drugs would be a sufficient search where as a strip search of the student’s body would be considered intrusive. The facts of the two cases, Best V. New Jersey and Safford V. Redding, clearly portray the difference between the two