Kelley Baker kbaker@hslegalfirm.com
Karen Haase khaase@hslegalfirm.com @KarenHaase
Steve Williams
Bobby Truhe
swilliams@hslegalfirm.com @SteveisEsteban
btruhe@hslegalfirm.com @btruhe
Student Cell Phone Searches In the last half-dozen years, K-12 schools, especially high schools, have reversed previous prohibitions on students' using their cell phones during school hours. The phones and other devices are now allowed in most schools and even welcomed by some schools as personal learning devices. While their use remains strictly regulated to certain times and activities, their widespread use, especially among teens, is a reality in today's school world. Because of the increased use of cell phones in school, we must look at whether or not schools are allowed to search students' cell phones as part of an investigation. On October 14, 2014, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed Gallimore v. Saunders, Civil Action No. 3:14CV009, a case pertaining to an alleged search of a student and his belongings, including a cell phone, by school administrators. School principals had been informed by two parents that "a longhaired student had smoked marijuana on a school bus." The principals then summoned the only male student with long hair to the office. The student did not know why they summoned him to the office. The principals asked the student to empty his pockets, and then patted down the student's person and searched his backpack, shoes, and pockets. Saunders searched his Vaseline jar, a sandwich wrapper, and his cell phone. No marijuana was found and the student was sent back to class. The student then sued the school claiming that his Fourth Amendment rights had been violated. The court dismissed the student's lawsuit. It found that the principals were justified in initiating the search because the student generally fit the description that the parents had supplied, i.e. a male student with long hair. With regard to the reasonableness of the searches, it stated: that the principal's "pat down of [the student] and the search of his backpack, shoes, and pockets were all reasonable in scope because he could have hidden drugs in these places.� It also found that the search of the Vaseline jar and sandwich wrapper were reasonable because they were potential hiding places for drugs.
However, the court concluded that the alleged search of the cell phone, exceeded the scope of a reasonable search conducted to discover drugs. It pointed out that unlike other items, such as a Vaseline jar or sandwich wrapper, the cell phone could not have contained drugs. It said, “The search of the cell phone was, therefore, not ‘reasonably related’ to the objective of the search— finding evidence of drug use on the school bus earlier that day.” This does not mean that school administrators can never search a student's cell phone – in fact, the Gallimore case was ultimately dismissed completely by the student himself. It does mean that schools must follow the same rules in searching student cell phones that they must follow in other searches: (1) the search must be “justified at its inception;” and (2) actually conducted in a way “reasonably related in scope to the circumstances which justified the search in the first place.” School administrators have the authority to conduct searches of student property when they have reasonable grounds to believe that the search will disclose that the student has violated the law or the rules of the school. A school may wish to adopt a Student Cell Phone policy which indicates that if a student brings their cell phone or other electronic communication device to school, that the student is consenting to the search of said device by school staff when the staff determines that such a search is reasonably necessary. That does not mean that school administrators can then search a phone at will, but it does make the search of a phone more reasonable in certain circumstances. We would encourage you to review your policies regarding student cell phones. If you have questions, we recommend that you consult with your school district’s attorney or call Kelley, Karen, Steve or Bobby. I:\3\7613\E-mail Updates\162 - Cell Phone Searches FINAL.docx
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