Unconstitutional? Just smile and nod, smile and nod. 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Gaston school board approves random searches of students' vehicles
GASTONIA (AP) -- The Gaston County school board has approved random searches of students' vehicles for weapons and drugs in a new safety effort that one legal expert said may not pass constitutional muster.
School board members on Tuesday briefly discussed potential legal problems stemming from searching students' vehicles without just cause before unanimously approving the measure, believed to be the first of its kind in North Carolina.
The searches will begin as soon as area principals explain the new policy to staff members. Students will be chosen for the random searches by computer.
School board attorney Julia Shovelin assured board members that it was within the school district's rights to conduct the searches.
"There is no right to park at school," she said. "Parking is a privilege."
If a student refuses to allow a search of his or her vehicle, he or she will lose the privilege to park at school.
School safety experts and district officials say they know of no other district in the state that performs random searches of student cars without cause.
At most high schools, officials check cars by looking through the windows or by having drug-sniffing dogs walk through the school parking lot, said Joanne McDaniel, assistant director of the Center for the Prevention of School Violence in Raleigh.
Random locker searches are also common, as is the use of metal detectors at school entrances. Gaston County high schools use both techniques to screen for weapons.
Arnold Loewy, a law professor specializing in criminal procedure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said last week that the search policy likely would not withstand a court challenge.
Shovelin said school officials wanted to add random car searches to the random locker searches and drug tests already allowed under school policy because of recent incidents at local high schools
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God, Guns and Guts made this country a great country!
oberkommando sez:
"We lost the first and third and now they are after the Second!(no pun intended)"
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>
Gaston school board approves random searches of students' vehicles
GASTONIA (AP) -- The Gaston County school board has approved random searches of students' vehicles for weapons and drugs in a new safety effort that one legal expert said may not pass constitutional muster.
School board members on Tuesday briefly discussed potential legal problems stemming from searching students' vehicles without just cause before unanimously approving the measure, believed to be the first of its kind in North Carolina.
The searches will begin as soon as area principals explain the new policy to staff members. Students will be chosen for the random searches by computer.
School board attorney Julia Shovelin assured board members that it was within the school district's rights to conduct the searches.
"There is no right to park at school," she said. "Parking is a privilege."
If a student refuses to allow a search of his or her vehicle, he or she will lose the privilege to park at school.
School safety experts and district officials say they know of no other district in the state that performs random searches of student cars without cause.
At most high schools, officials check cars by looking through the windows or by having drug-sniffing dogs walk through the school parking lot, said Joanne McDaniel, assistant director of the Center for the Prevention of School Violence in Raleigh.
Random locker searches are also common, as is the use of metal detectors at school entrances. Gaston County high schools use both techniques to screen for weapons.
Arnold Loewy, a law professor specializing in criminal procedure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said last week that the search policy likely would not withstand a court challenge.
Shovelin said school officials wanted to add random car searches to the random locker searches and drug tests already allowed under school policy because of recent incidents at local high schools
[/quote]
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God, Guns and Guts made this country a great country!
oberkommando sez:
"We lost the first and third and now they are after the Second!(no pun intended)"