School, Police Can Question Child Without Telling Parent

Summary

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Police and school officials in Botetourt County, Va., did not violate the constitutional rights of a 10-year-old student or her mother by detaining and questioning the child about a gun she allegedly brought to school, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held.

School officials must have the leeway to maintain order on school premises and a safe environment in which learning can flourish, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III wrote for the three-judge panel. Overconstitutionalizing disciplinary procedures can undermine educators' ability to best obtain these goals.

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School, Police Can Question Child Without Telling Parent

Jennifer Wofford claimed the questioning violated her daughter's Fourth Amendment rights, and that her own Fourteenth Amendment due process rights had been violated when school officials failed to contact her before the que...

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