THE RIGHT STUFF

Phi Delta Kappan

Volumn 79, Issue 6, 1998, Pages 475-476

  Zirkel, Perry A ^a  

^a LEHIGH UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0039924618     PISSN: 00317217     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (14)

1. Smith v. McGlothlin, 119 F.3d 788(9th Cir. 1997). I obtained supplementary information via telephone interviews in mid-October and early December 1997 with McGlothlin's attorney, Daniel Shinoff, and Smith's attorney, James Dunn, respectively.
2. Perry A. Zirkel, "Another Setback for Carthage?," Phi Delta Kappan, November 1996, pp. 253-54; idem, "Drug Test Passes Court Test," Phi Delta Kappan, October 1995, pp. 187-88; idem, "Another Search for Student Rights," Phi Delta Kappan, May 1994, pp. 728-30; idem, "Stripping Students of Their Rights," Phi Delta Kappan, February 1993, pp. 498-501; and idem, "Searching and Researching," Phi Delta Kappan, December 1989, pp. 330-32.
3. Perry A. Zirkel, "Another Setback for Carthage?," Phi Delta Kappan, November 1996, pp. 253-54; idem, "Drug Test Passes Court Test," Phi Delta Kappan, October 1995, pp. 187-88; idem, "Another Search for Student Rights," Phi Delta Kappan, May 1994, pp. 728-30; idem, "Stripping Students of Their Rights," Phi Delta Kappan, February 1993, pp. 498-501; and idem, "Searching and Researching," Phi Delta Kappan, December 1989, pp. 330-32.
4. Perry A. Zirkel, "Another Setback for Carthage?," Phi Delta Kappan, November 1996, pp. 253-54; idem, "Drug Test Passes Court Test," Phi Delta Kappan, October 1995, pp. 187-88; idem, "Another Search for Student Rights," Phi Delta Kappan, May 1994, pp. 728-30; idem, "Stripping Students of Their Rights," Phi Delta Kappan, February 1993, pp. 498-501; and idem, "Searching and Researching," Phi Delta Kappan, December 1989, pp. 330-32.
5. Perry A. Zirkel, "Another Setback for Carthage?," Phi Delta Kappan, November 1996, pp. 253-54; idem, "Drug Test Passes Court Test," Phi Delta Kappan, October 1995, pp. 187-88; idem, "Another Search for Student Rights," Phi Delta Kappan, May 1994, pp. 728-30; idem, "Stripping Students of Their Rights," Phi Delta Kappan, February 1993, pp. 498-501; and idem, "Searching and Researching," Phi Delta Kappan, December 1989, pp. 330-32.
6. Perry A. Zirkel, "Another Setback for Carthage?," Phi Delta Kappan, November 1996, pp. 253-54; idem, "Drug Test Passes Court Test," Phi Delta Kappan, October 1995, pp. 187-88; idem, "Another Search for Student Rights," Phi Delta Kappan, May 1994, pp. 728-30; idem, "Stripping Students of Their Rights," Phi Delta Kappan, February 1993, pp. 498-501; and idem, "Searching and Researching," Phi Delta Kappan, December 1989, pp. 330-32.
7. 469 U.S. 325 (1985).
8. 515 U.S. 646 (1995).
9. See, for example, State v. J.A., 679 So.2d 316 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1996); and People v. Pruitt, 662 N.E.2d 540 (Ill. App. Ct. 1996). For more detail, see Zirkel, "Drug Test Passes Court Test."
10. State v. Barrett, 683 So.2d 331 (La. App. Ct. 1996). The lower courts were split on this issue. Compare, for example, Horton v. Goose Creek Indep. Sch. Dist., 690 F.2d 470 (5th Cir. 1982), cert. denied, 463 U.S. 1207 (1983) (search upheld), with Doe v. Renfrow, 631 F.2d 91 (7th Cir. 1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 1022 (1982) (search not upheld). 7. The language in the Ninth Circuit's opinion suggesting that the search was constitutional was actually dictum because the essential holding was that the school official was not liable in light of the unsettled state of the law. To this extent, the opinion is consistent with a more recent federal court decision in DesRoches v. Caprio, 974 F. Supp. 542 (E.D. Va. 1997). In that case, the court ruled that a principal was entitled to qualified immunity when he searched the backpacks of a group of students for a stolen pair of sneakers. The court, however, invalidated the search for lack of individualized reasonable suspicion.
11. Thompson v. Carthage Sch. Dist., 87 F.3d 979 (8th Cir. 1996). For more detail, see Zirkel, "Another Setback for Carthage?"
12. The Ninth Circuit has been a controversial, maverick court, and Judge Kozinski is a conservative Reagan appointee known for a strong Libertarian streak. See, for example, William Carlsen, "Frontier Justice," San Francisco Chronicle, 6 October 1996, p. 1/Z7.
13. For example, in People v. Alexander B., 270 Cal.Rptr. 342 (Ct. App. 1990), the appellate court expressly limited its analysis to the search for a dangerous weapon, whereas this case was merely a matter of cigarette smoking.
14. There is an exception, not present here, when state legislation or regulations are countervailing. See, for example, Perry A. Zirkel, "Zero for Tolerance?," Phi Delta Kappan, September 1997, pp. 8990.