Earls Case Study

Case Review

The case that my team has chosen is the case of Earls v. the Board of Education of Tecumseh public school. The amendment that this case was associated with was the Fourth Amendment. A brief explanation of what the Fourth Amendment states is that the government cannot execute unreasonable searches and or seizures, and to be searched or seized it must be supported by a warrant with a probable cause. The plaintiff of this case was Lindsay Earls, was suing the Board of Education of Tecumseh public school because she felt that drug testing the students of her school was a violation of the Fourth Amendment.

In the Earls vs. Board of education the violation of Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution was mentioned. The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution states the “right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” .When Lindsay Earls was forced to perform a drug test at her school, the school violated her privacy rights. By law children and teens under the age of 18 are forced to attend school, therefore when Lindsay was a minor she didn’t have a choice. The school doesn’t represent a reasonable reason in order to have performed the drug test. Lindsay was an extraordinary student participating in many extracurricular activities such as Choir, National Honor Society, marching band and an academic team. Drug testing in schools is not required because it shows no improvement to the school, it takes away money from the school for each drug test performed, the drug test aren’t always correct, and drug testing can actually cause emotional trauma on students.

The defendant of this case is the Board of Education of Tecumseh public school who claims that...

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...s unhygienic. Having somebody waiting outside the door, hearing your relieve yourself is considered as invasion of privacy. It causes humiliation and can cause students to be nervous and possibly not be able to relieve themselves. When students are unable to provide a specimen sample they are given tap water to drink. Tap water contains millions of bacteria, which can be harmful when ingested. When following the drug testing procedure you are given a cup to provide the specimen in the cup is very small and quite easy to miss or spill due to the size. There also is the problem of possibly missing the cup and urinating on your hands, that then leads to the spreading of millions of more bacteria that can cause sickness or harm other students’ health, the only exception to this is if your urine is sterile. While you hold your urine can possibly cause bladder problems.