New+Jersey+v.+TLO

March 7, 1980 at Piscataway High School. A teacher Mr. Theodore Choplick finds high school girls smoking in bathroom. T.L.O. 14 year old girl denies smoking in bathroom. Mr. Choplick takes T.L.O. to office and searches T.L.O.'s purse for cigarettes. He finds a pack of cigarettes and cigarette rolling paper. This leads him to believe there is more to find in her purse. Mr. Choplick searches more, he finds marijuana, a pipe, empty plastic bags, a significant amount of one dollar bills, a list of students who owe T.L.O. money, and letters implicating T.L.O. in dealing marijuana. Mr.Choplick calls T.L.O.'s mom and the police. T.L.O. admits to selling marijuana at school and delinquency charges are brought up against her in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court of Middle Sex County. T.L.O. attempts to get evidence suppressed due to violation of 4th Amendment. She also tries to get confession suppressed because she says it had been tainted by unlawful search. Juvenile Court rejected her 4th Amendment arguments on grounds that the search was lawful under reasonable suspicion. T.L.O. is found as delinquent in January 1982 and sentenced to one year's probation. T.L.O. appeals to 4th Amendment Supreme Court NJ appellate division. The appellate division reverse the ruling of the juvenile court (unanimously), and suppressed the evidence found i T.L.O.'s purse. This is because whenever an official search violates constitutional rights the evidence may not be used in a criminal case. This was a violation because being in possesion of of cigarettes was not against school rules, so the search for cigarettes wasn't justified. This can be described as the **exclusionary rule**. Otherwise admisable evidence may not be used in a criminal trial due to illegal police or authority conduct.