ABSTRACT
The US Supreme Court case setting the pattern for most modern student rights cases is the famous Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 US 503. The Supreme Court began its constitutional analysis with the frequently quoted statement "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." The scope of a student's speech rights within the school may nonetheless be tempered to ensure the state's ability to conduct classes effectively. The Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure protects public school students against searches by school administrators to a lesser extent than it protects them from searches by police outside of school. Public school students may have stronger constitutional protection than the public at large with regard to protection from state establishment of religion .
