The Importance Of Reasonable Suspicion In Schools

Attempts to define Reasonable Suspicion have been provided by both state and federal courts, yet the term is considered unclear but important to define because schools use it in order to conduct searches of students. Reasonable Suspicion in schools is defined as “a warrantless search of a student when officials have reasonable grounds to believe that a student possesses evidence of illegal activity or activity that interferes with school discipline and order”. The New Jersey State Supreme Court rendered its current definition due to the most recent court case of New Jersey vs. TLO. Theoretically, everyone should agree this standard is acceptable to uphold in any school, however reasonable suspicion allows for racial profiling to slip in, and it ineffectively protects the constitutional rights of students.
By using reasonable suspicion, teachers and administrators given an opportunity to be racially biased. The systematic racism experienced in this country is not limited to police officers patrolling the streets, but can greatly affect the inside of educational institutions. Police officers currently use the probable cause standard in order to conduct searches of suspicious subjects in everyday
Its definition can be manipulated and misused to push racial profiling in schools, where of all places, schools hold great influence over the future leaders of America. Reasonable suspicion also fails to ensure the constitutional right that students are entitled to. Lastly, the way this concept is currently defined is vague and does not secure privacy and safety in public schools the way you would believe it did. For these reasons it needs to be defined as a certainty of possessing illegal objects or knowing that a subject has committed a crime. Schools have a legal and moral duty to keep their students protected and to respect them for the citizens they are. Reasonable suspicion does not live up to this