Massachusetts SJC upholds private-school searches: Same protections don't apply, it rules

[Ian David]

By Denise Lavoie, Associated Press | February 1, 2007

Private school students do not have the same protections against unreasonable searches as students who attend public schools, the state's highest court said yesterday.

The Supreme Judicial Court drew a distinction between public and private school officials in the case of three Catholic high school students who were arrested after drugs and alcohol were found in their hotel room during a school ski trip in 2003.

The court said public school officials are agents of the state and, therefore, are subject to the rule against unreasonable searches contained in the Fourth Amendment. But the court said the same protections do not apply in private schools.

"Fourth Amendment protection does not apply to searches conducted by persons who are not state agents," the court ruled in a 7-to-0 decision.

The case involved three students at Bishop Stang High School, a North Dartmouth school operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River, who went on a school-sponsored ski trip to the Berkshires in March 2003.

When school officials learned some students had been in their hotel room unsupervised, two chaperones and the school principal searched the room and found alcohol and pipes.

More:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/02/01/sjc_upholds_private_school_searches/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+--+City%2FRegion+News

What happens in the rectory, stays in the rectory!