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6 Seton Hall Const. L.J. 189 (1995-1996)
Metal Detectors in Public Schools: A Subtle Sacrifice of Privacy Interests

handle is hein.journals/shclj6 and id is 199 raw text is: COMMENTS METAL DETECTORS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: A SUBTLE SACRIFICE OF PRIVACY INTERESTS Joan E. Imbriani The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness .... They conferred, as against the Government, the right to be let alone - the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men. To protect that right, every unjustifiable intrusion by the Government upon the privacy of the individual, whatever the means employed, must be deemed a violation of the Fourth Amendment.' I. INTRODUCTION Before passing through the proverbial schoolhouse gate,' some American public school students will be compelled to submit to full bodily searches, regardless of whether they are individually suspected of committing a crime or violating a school rule. In many school districts,3 particularly 'Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438, 478 (1928) (Brandeis, J., dissenting). 2Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Community Sch. Dist., 393 U.S. 503, 506 (1969). Writing for the Court, Justice Fortas stated, It can hardly be argued that ... students . . . shed their constitutional rights . . . at the schoolhouse gate. Id. at 506. In terms of a student's constitutional right of freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, however, the Court provided that states and their school officials have power to enforce disciplinary rules which affect the management of a school, albeit in a manner consistent with fundamental constitutional safeguards. Id. at 507. 3The management of public schools is delegated to local boards of education which carry out their functions in the school district as established by the laws of the state. E. EDMUND REUTTER, JR., SCHOOLS AND THE LAW 16-17 (4th ed. 1980). These boards, which are essentially quasi-municipal corporations, are territorially divided within a state and are created expressly to operate public schools. Id. at 18. School districts and boards of education are comparable to state agencies, in that they are controlled by the legislative bodies of the state. JOSEPH J. COBB, AN INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATIONAL LAW FOR ADMINISTRATORS AND TEACHERS 14-16 (1981). However, due to the fact that the public education system is within the domain of the state, not local government entities, school officials, such as board members, principals and teachers, are considered to be state agents. Id. at 14-15. In sum, American public education is a federal concern which is controlled 1995