Ohio court considers privacy rights in backpack search
Courts say schools need "reasonable suspicion" for a search, compared to the higher "probable cause" evidence outside of school settings.
The official conducted a second search after he recalled that the student had alleged gang ties, and found 13 bullets after dumping the bag's contents, records show.
"Rumors do not rise to reasonable suspicion, and mere affiliation with a criminal group does not constitute a crime or a justification for a search, even in a school," Judge Jennifer Brunner wrote for the three-judge panel.
"[...] a bold and effectively unprecedented decision would render the Fourth Amendment meaningless for Ohio's school children," Marsha Levick, an attorney with the Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center, said in a Sept. 14, 2016 filing.