Page 63 - Juvenile Practice is not Child's Play

Miranda Warning and Students’ Rights at School.

Students are subject to many restrictions that limit their movement while they are on school grounds. Mandatory
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attendance laws require students to attend school; they cannot leave when they want or roam the building at-will but
must ask for permission to leave their classrooms or the building. When students receive orders by school officials, they
are expected to comply or face disciplinary action. However, Miranda warnings do not have to be given unless you are
in custody. In the context of Miranda rights, custody has a narrow meaning: either you have been placed under formal

arrest, or the circumstances are such that a reasonable person might think that they are under arrest, meaning they
believe they are not free to leave. However, a teacher, acting on her own, does not have the authority to place an
individual under arrest. This means that when a teacher questions you at school, without law enforcement present, she
does not have to read you. Yet certain school officials, such as a school resource officer, they must read the Miranda

rights to the child. This also means that if you are in the custody of a school resource officer, and the teacher asks you
questions in front of them, the teacher may also then be acting as an agent of law enforcement.

Miranda warning violations are quite common during arrests of school children. Due to the nature of the juvenile law

system, which 99% of the cases do not go to trial. The statements that were taken during the improper interrogation,
are used against the child during plea negotiating, and the prosecution relies on a juvenile’s desire to plea out quickly.

Searches of Children in School

Students’ Fourth Amendment Right

School officials are deemed to be government actors. They are required to act to protect student’s Fourth Amendment
right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. This means that in order to search a student, the search must
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be reasonable. In New Jersey vs. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325 (1985), the United States Supreme Court outlined the rules
applying to school officials conducting searches of students’ bodies and personal effects.

When Searches can happen

Although the court held that school officials, as government agents, are subject to the Fourth Amendment, they do not
have to obtain a warrant before conducting such searches. The court found that school officials do have to meet the

60 https://law.emory.edu/elj/content/volume-62/issue-2/comments/granting-miranda-rights-to-students.html
61 New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325 (1985)