On Tuesday several of the ACLU of MAINE
staff and some volunteers traveled to Belfast, Maine for the first of our annual
student Bill of Rights Conferences. Over 100
high school students from Hampden Academy, John Bapst Academy and Rockland High
School joined us in Belfast to learn about students’ First, Fourth and Fourteen
Amendment rights.
I led the lesson on the
4th Amendment, a mock trial using NJ v. TLO for the case. NJ v. TLO
involved a high school freshman convicted of possession of marijuana based on
evidence obtained through a questionable search. Students read the case
description, choose to argue one side or hear arguments and judge the case and
break up into small groups to develop arguments.
It’s always interesting to see
students’ reactions to TLO. In reading the case description, I always jokingly
take an exaggerated breath when I read off the evidence used to prove TLO’s
guilt: “The search revealed a small amount of marijuana, a pipe, a number of
empty plastic bags, a substantial quantity of money in one dollar bills, an
index card that appeared to be a list of students who owed TLO money, and two
letters that implicated TLO in marijuana dealing.” Students quickly pick up on
the fact that TLO was, as one student put it, “hustlin’”. What students don’t
always understand quickly is that the evidence obtained may not be used against
her if it was obtained in an unlawful search.
Sometimes students speak to
their own experiences when developing arguments for the case. Students that have
been subject to searches are often quick to defend TLO, and first to point out
that even administrators and teachers are capable of abuse of power. Some
students that have only been subject to mass searches during bomb threats or
other such situations are quick to want to secure safety at school at any cost.
What always strikes me is that at 17 and younger, few, if any, students have
not been subject to searches by administrators or law
enforcement.
At the end of the lesson,
whether students believe the search of TLO was reasonable or not, they all walk
away with a better understanding of how the 4th Amendment applies to
their every day lives. And perhaps most importantly, students know that a search
is something you have to consent to, and sometimes the simple act of voicing
that you do not consent to a search is the strongest action that upholds the
Constitution.