ABSTRACT
In Board of Education v. Earls, 536 US 822 (2002) the US Supreme Court upheld a policy of requiring drug tests for middle and high school students engaged in any extracurricular activity. The general legal principle under the Fourth Amendment is that search and seizure require a warrant, but there are several exceptions, one of which is called the "administrative search." In 1998, the Tecumseh, Oklahoma, public school district adopted a policy mandating random, suspi- cionless drug testing of high school students participating in extracurricular activities such as band and choir, the Future Farmers of America and Homemakers of America, and athletic and academic teams. Lindsay Earls, a member of the show choir, marching band, and academic team, challenged the drug testing in federal court. The district court ruled for the school, but the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, and, relying on Vernonia, held that the school would have to show a "special need" for such testing.
