Warren Watson and Jackie Bowie Suess

The Bill of Rights and the Constitution outline the rights that U.S. citizens have and how those rights are protected. But do all of those rights apply equally to youth?

In a society where children are unable to vote for who runs the country, and where young voices are undervalued in the political discourse, what rights do we have, and how are they protected?

Recently, Y-Press set out to learn more about youth rights through a question-and-answer session with Jackie Bowie Suess, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana (formerly known as the ICLU).

Y-Press members met Suess when they took part in the discussion "Constitution Who? Constitutional Issues about Students and Young People" at the Glendale Branch of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library. It was part of the autumn public event series, "My Daily Constitution" (www.mydailyconstitution.org). Suess was a discussion leader.

Suess previously was a lawyer with Legal Services Organization in Indianapolis, which provides legal services for the poor.

She's an expert on Indiana welfare reform and wrote a book about it. Her current work for the ACLU focuses on the constitutional rights of children and the poor.

Y-Press: Could you explain what rights children have and who figures out how those rights apply to kids?

Suess: The Bill of Rights applies to students as it does to adults, but students' constitutional rights are not quite as extensive as adults' rights. When I'm talking about the "rights" of students, I'm talking about how the Constitution has been interpreted by the courts -- the Indiana and Federal Courts of Appeal and Supreme Courts -- for students. There are also other statutory laws that apply to everybody, including youth, like the criminal laws and other state laws that are created by the state legislature.

Y-Press: What are the laws regarding schools' rights to test students for drugs, and how do these compare to workplace rights to drug-test adults?

Suess: When testing students, school officials need to have a reasonable suspicion that these students have engaged in drug use or have possessed or distributed drugs. With adults, employers normally have to have probable cause to search them or to do a drug test.

But there are certain areas where the courts have said, both for people in the workplace and for students, it's OK to do random drug testing.

Y-Press: Could you explain the rights a school has in searching an individual student's body, locker, car or any other personal items?

Suess: The school needs to have reasonable suspicion that the student has violated school rules or a law in order to search their persons or to search his or her coat and backpack.

But lockers are considered to be school property, not the student's property. So the school is allowed to search lockers without any reason at all, and anything that's in the lockers.

Cars are considered the same as your book bag. It's your property, and the school can't search it unless there's reasonable suspicion to believe that there's evidence in there that you have committed a crime or a school violation.

Y-Press: We know that private schools are not bound by all the same laws as public schools, but are there any restrictions on drug tests and searching the personal belongings of a student when he or she attends a private school?

Suess: Not that I'm aware of. We at the ACLU of Indiana deal with the requirements of the Constitution, which obviously only applies to the government (including public, taxpayer-supported schools). I'm not familiar with any law that applies to private schools other than general criminal laws or laws about discrimination. But other than that, the Fourth Amendment doesn't apply to private schools.

Y-Press: Could you explain how it is legal for many schools to prohibit Internet access to specific sites?

Suess: The reason that schools are allowed to restrict Internet use is because it's their property and they can decide what's educationally appropriate and what's not.

Y-Press: Can youth be punished for sending an e-mail from a school computer?

Suess: If the e-mail sent from a computer on school grounds creates substantial disruption, school officials can punish the student who sent it. That is the normal standard for any student expression at schools -- writing or speaking -- and it's no different if the communication is made on the computer.

Y-Press: Please define what a "material and substantial disruption" might be in a school.

Suess: There has to be evidence or a reasonable basis for believing that the particular speech is actually going to cause a disruption in the educational function. That might mean, for example, that the student's speech is going to cause class to be interrupted because the students will just be talking about it so much that they won't be able to even concentrate in class. Or maybe it will lead to fighting in class.

Y-Press: If messages are opened and read at school but originated from computers outside school, can the students who created the e-mails still be punished?

Suess: Schools can punish students for off-school speech only if their expression or their speech is unlawful and has an effect on the school itself.

For example, if a student sends an e-mail from home threatening to kill another student, and there's reason to believe that the threat is real, then the school could punish the student who sent the message. That's because it is a crime to intimidate somebody.

Y-Press: In recent years, many students have protested issues at their respective schools ranging from administrative policies to the war in Iraq. Is it legal for the schools to punish these youth even though the First Amendment guarantees the right for youth to protest?

Suess: To the extent that the students' speech is creating a material and substantial disruption, the school can punish them for that. A school building is not the same as a public park: A school's main function is to educate. So to the extent any speech is interfering with that, school officials could prohibit the speech. For example, during class time, students can't go marching down the halls chanting instead of going to class. Schools can create reasonable time frames and restrictions on the students' speech.

Y-Press: How much control do schools have, by law, to limit what youth are allowed to wear in school?

Suess: When it comes to hairstyle in particular, there is pretty clear law in this Federal Circuit Court of Appeals that schools can't prohibit a particular hairstyle or hair color unless it causes a material and substantial disruption.

And generally that's true for clothing, too, except that the school is allowed to have a reasonable dress code.

For example, schools could prohibit gang-related clothing, but in any specific instance, they are going to have to be able to show that there is a real reason to believe that it is going to cause a material and substantial disruption. And they must be able to show evidence that gang members in that school actually do wear that kind of clothing.

Y-Press: Could you please explain what city governments are allowed to do regarding youth curfews?

Suess: The ACLU has challenged the curfew laws for many years at various levels and ultimately won the cases. Cities can have a reasonable curfew (which, in Indianapolis, is 11 p.m. from Sunday to Thursday; 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday) for youth, but the law must allow for exceptions.

Y-Press: In your opinion, what youth rights are most at risk and why? What can youth do to make sure their rights are upheld?

Suess: Right now, the biggest threat to students' rights seems to be over-reaching by the schools in the area of free speech. For example, more and more schools are trying to control students' expressive activity that takes place off of school grounds, such as on MySpace.com.

But the law is clear that schools have no authority to punish students for their off-campus speech unless the speech is unlawful (like a real threat against someone) and the speech adversely affects the school in some way. Students who are being punished in any way by the school for their off-campus speech should always challenge that and/or contact the ACLU for help.

But you can't stand up for your rights if you don't know what they are. Students should make themselves aware of their rights. Read books on the topic, search the Internet.

For example, one Web site that discusses students' constitutional rights in particular is www.usconstitution .net/consttop_stud.html. Another useful site is www.aclu.org/standup/index.html.

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Max Dean, 14.

Copyright 2006 Y-Press