Student Rights

E

enkephalin

Bluelighter
Joined
Mar 1, 2002
Messages
41
Location
seattle
I have a Hypothetical Situation: A kid, we will call him Child A, sees another kid, we will call him Child B, selling pot to a freshman and he alerts the administration. Keep in mind, Child A has no credibility; he could be out to defame Child B. 20 minutes later when the administration finds Child B, he is with two other irrelevant kids, does the administration have reasonable suspicion to search these other irrelevant kids? What if Child B was with a teacher, would the teacher get searched? What about President Bush?

I have looked up the Student Rights for Washington State where this hypothetical situation took place and according to WAC 72-120-015

(d) Students possess the constitutional right to be secure in their persons, quarters, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, subject to limitations set forth in RCW 28A.67.300, 28A.67.310, 28A.67.320, and 28A.67.330.
Click to expand...
 
Also, if charged with minor in possession and possession of paraphernalia and convicted will my license get suspended for one year no matter what? or is there a way around that. Is it possible to get a two diversions in the state of WA (my first one was for one count of first degree computer tresspass and that is my only previous criminal record) Or should I try and be charged as an adult ( I turn 18 in ten days) so I do not get my license taken away and hope for a diversion in the adult courts? Also, could a public defender get me a diversion in the adult courts? Thanks again.
 
Excellent question.

This sounds so fascist, but "student rights" is kind of a contradiction in terms.

Both the letter and the spirit of case law in the US adhere to the doctrine of in loco parentis, or, in plain terms, "in the place of the parent."

Check this out for clarification:

My source

Now, with regard to your hypothetical... If Child A sees Child B selling pot and reports it to an administrator, considering that the school has a duty in a similar manner as a parent to protect the children (which protection includes keeping the child safe from "evils" such as drugs ;), the credibility and right to privacy of Child B is outweighed by the potential for harm to Child B if illegal and harmful action is stopped, and thus the standard Fourth Amendment provisions do not apply the same way in a school situation.

The rights you refer to in your citation (good job, btw) are limited by RCW 28A.67.300, et seq. Has that set of laws been recently revised? I tried several searches and came up that the numbers had been changed. I will see if there are better citations in more recent case law.

As for your specific situation, I will start with my standard instruction to utilize the services of your attorney to the full extent that you can. 9 times out of 10 it is better to be tried as a juvenile than an adult, (1) because the penalties tend to be less harsh and (2) because it is easier to get the record erased or expunged when you do become an adult. Computer trespass is not a violent or drug-related crime. That being said, you are in Washington, land of Microsoft and its myriad of suits relating to computer law. Any prior conviction, if admissible (which is a separate issue entirely) is a strike against your credibility.

NORML on Washington State Possession Law

This information indicates that your license would indeed be subject to suspension for a year if you are convicted of possession (regardless of whether you were caught in your vehicle). Would you be eligible for a hardship license to school and work?

How good is your relationship with your public defender? What does he/she recommend?

I will elaborate more once I look up some more case law.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply. This happened last Friday (May 9th) so I do not have a public defender yet. I actually called my lawyer from the computer tresspass suit and he said for the love of god do not be charged as a minor. He seemed very confident that he could get me off with a diversion or something other then a conviction if I was charged as an adult and I would not loose my license. However, he could have been saying that just to get me to re-hire him. I also beleive that if i had a public defender he could most likely get me a diversion but I charged with minor in possession of a controlled substance under 40 grams (marijuana) AND possesion of paraphernelia. I am not very confident that a public defender could strike a plea bargin of some sort to get the possession of paraphernelia dropped and a diversion for the MIP. From what I have heard, many of the public defenders in this town do not do a very good job. I view it as if I were to be charged as a minor, I would get my license suspended for a year, and probably a few months of probation, but if I make the risky move to be charged as an adult I could potentially be in a lot more trouble. I also do not want a lengthy court process and have to pay for lawyer fees when this could be ended by the end of this year (except for the license suspension) if I were to be convicted as a minor

Also, I searched for more recent RCW's and could not find any. I do not beleive I could get a hardship license either.
 
I'm going to go out on a limb (heh) and say that the search will be upheld.

The controlling Supreme Court case (although there maybe more more relevant state law in your state) is probably New Jersey v. TLO, which is linked to in the link mariposa420 put up. That case sets forth the reasonable suspicion standard for students.

The standard for students, reasonable suspicion, is much lower than the usual probable cause standard for adults. Think of probable cause as being like a 50% threshold: There has to be a greater-than-50% chance that the person searching you will find evidence of illegality.

Now the reasonable suspicion standard is much lower than 50%. Basically, it's when the person doing the searching can point to some reason for the search. In other words, it's something more than mere intuition or a lucky guess.

In this case, the school can point to the fact that the person informed on you. That would not be enough for probable cause in most situations, but it's enough for reasonable suspicion, because it's more than a mere intuition or lucky guess.

Nonetheless, a good attorney could argue it. Definately talk to an attorney before you do anything else.

Good luck.
 
A kid, we will call him Child A, sees another kid, we will call him Child B, selling pot to a freshman and he alerts the administration. Keep in mind, Child A has no credibility; he could be out to defame Child B. 20 minutes later when the administration finds Child B, he is with two other irrelevant kids, does the administration have reasonable suspicion to search these other irrelevant kids? What if Child B was with a teacher, would the teacher get searched? What about President Bush?
Click to expand...

Do I parse this correctly that the question refers to the rights of Child C, who was merely in the company of Child B when B was confronted by the teachers?

If so, the hypothetical presents a considerably lower amount of "reasonable suspicion" for Child C than that which might apply to Child B. As suggested above, consult a lawyer, but I think this would be a significantly weaker case for the school.
 
Yes this had to do with the rights of Child C and I have been in contact with some lawyers who seem concerned about how I was treated.
 
Records do get sealed when you turn 18 but I would loose my license for a year, be on probation for a few a months and have to some community service and drug class. If I was charged as an adult I could most likely get off with a defferred since it would be a my first offense, however I just found out that as long as your under 21, you can still get your license suspended for a year for possession of marijuana in the state of WA. So far I am sitting tight, waiting to see what the police report says and will possibly try and convince the school to call the prosecutor and tell him I was searched unlawfully and that would most likely get the case thrown out. Too bad the wonderful public school I goto is filled with a bunch of hard lined, zero tolerance administrators who are always up on their high and mighty horse and think they can do no wrong.
 
I doubt your administrators think they can do no wrong. Why be in posession of a controlled substance on school property of all places?
 
Records do get sealed when you turn 18 but I would loose my license for a year, be on probation for a few a months and have to some community service and drug class. If I was charged as an adult I could most likely get off with a defferred since it would be a my first offense, however I just found out that as long as your under 21, you can still get your license suspended for a year for possession of marijuana in the state of WA.
Click to expand...

Another thing you may wish to factor into your personal calculus: availability of Federal student loans for college. A conviction before the age of 18 counts if you were tried as an adult. This can bite you in the posterior later on in life.

Check out the worksheet you might be filling out one day:
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/q35wksht_34.pdf
 
Yes, the student loan issue was something that came to mind, yet luckily my parents will be paying for my college education...as long as I don't get in anymore trouble. Also, Western Washington University (the college I will be attending) is one of TWO colleges in the whole United States that does not abide by this federal rule. I beleive the other college was Yale, but I am not sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top