Philadelphia Criminal Lawyer – 3 Types of School Searches

Our Philadelphia Criminal Defense law firm represents accused person against a variety of criminal allegations throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  In some cases, we are called on to represent a young person charged following an incident which occurred in a school.  Criminal Defense Lawyers need to be ready to defend students against different allegations but the majority of school incidents pertain to the illegal possession of controlled substances, illegal firearms or instruments, and crimes of violence such as aggravated assault, simple assault and terroristic threats  

Relaxed Constitutional Protections – Public Schools  

Prior to representation, your criminal defense lawyer must explain that the academic environment is different.  Courts recognize that the school environment requires order and discipline. It is for this reason that constitutional protections (4th amendment and the 14th Amendment) in a public school are different than those enjoyed when students aren’t on school grounds or within a school building. 

In a public school, the administration may conduct a “warrantless search” if it has reasonable suspicion of conduct based on a review of all of the circumstances (totality) surrounding the conduct 

3 Type of Constitutional Public School Searches 

There are three (3) types of searches in a public school: