A search of a child's person or of a closed purse
or other bag carried on her person, no less than a similar search carried
out on an adult, is undoubtedly a severe violation of subjective expectations
of privacy. (We do not address the question, not presented by this case,
whether a schoolchild has a legitimate expectation of privacy in lockers,
desks, or other school property provided for the storage of school supplies.)

Against the child's interest
in privacy must be set the substantial interest of teachers and administrators
in maintaining discipline in the classroom and on school grounds.

we hold today that school officials need not obtain
a warrant before searching a student who is under their authority.

We join the majority of courts
that have examined this issue in concluding that the accommodation of the
privacy interests of schoolchildren with the substantial need of teachers
and administrators for freedom to maintain order in the schools does not
require strict adherence to the requirement that searches be based on probable
cause to believe that  the subject of the search has violated or is
violating the law. Rather, the legality of a search of a student should
depend simply on the reasonableness, under all the circumstances, of the
search. Determining the reasonableness of any search involves a twofold
inquiry: first, one must consider "whether the . . . action was justified
at its inception;"  second, one must determine whether the search
as actually conducted "was reasonably related in scope to the circumstances
which justified the interference in the first place."  Under ordinary
circumstances, a search of a student by a teacher or other school official
will be "justified at its inception" when there are reasonable grounds
for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student has
violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school. Such
a search will be permissible in its scope when the measures adopted are
reasonably related to the objectives of the search and not excessively
intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student and the nature of
the infraction.

Legitimacy

Checks and balances

Fairness

Effective application

The rule of law is the cornerstone for all other elements of democracy