Does anyone know if this was legal at all?

Yea I posted this in Busted but figured more people could help me out here



I was wondering if a school has the right to search through the content of a student's cellphone and if they have the right to use any information they found on the cellphone without parental consent of the search or use of information. A school confiscated a student's cellphone and then sent a picture and text from that student's phone that has information about the student's marijuana use in it. The student did not give them consent to search and also held the battery from his phone at time of confiscation and the school was well aware he did not want them to search the phone. At no time during the entire incident were the student's parents contacted in anyway. And also at the time of confiscation the student was touched in an aggresive way by a school staff member who tried to physicaly rip the cellphone from the student's grip. The student was also notified that if he withheld the battery he would be suspended for three days, he accepted but the teacher still tried to rip the phone away from him. When he did withhold the battery the school then found a battery that would fit the phone and used that battery to search the phone's content. While the phone was in their possesion they sent incriminating evidence from the student's phone to a staff member's email address. Did the school have any right to search the phone? Was the entire procedjure illegal? Can any information the school retreived be used agaisnt the student in anyway?

 

depends where are u from...it sounds illegal completely, but with all the patriot acts and all they pretty much can screw u on all your rights

 

If I was that kid I woudl have beaten that guy down. Thats just fucked up, you don't do that kind of shit.

 

well yea, I'm from the states. So maybe I am fucked from the patriot act.

 

That seems to be illegal in more ways than one. I'd be pissed.

 

i woulda knocked the mother fuckers jaw loose, illegal or not, that's strait fucked up

 

haha I know right!! when she was tryin to rip the phone away he was like you mother fucker let go of me!

what parta GA you from man?

 

thats some major bullshit, first off they had no right to search without parental permission or atleast a cop...second the staff member should be sued for assault, if it was a cop i would say otherwise...but i think they do have the right to search your phone.. however, i dont think they can forcefully take your battery without police around, or use it to send personal files to the schools computer....

but i guess it all depends on what state you live in

 

Graysville, but if you want to get technical, Ringgold.

 

That's definitely illegal, they violated a good number of fundamental citizens' rights by doing what they did, but as has already been pointed out, they can quote the Patriot Act and other fucked up legislations to fuck you over.

 

I woulda pulled out ma nine and blasted that sucka

 

searching your phone like that id think theyd need a court order, or probable cause
probable cause is any legitimate reason to think theres evidence of criminal activity..like someone overhearring you using the phone to deal..
but actualy, i think theres an fcc reg which protects ya from that..but its hard to say cause the patriot acts so fucked up
i would suggesst fightin it however..but u might haftsa do a bunch of research into lawsn such

 

you're not talkin about the ringgold outside of griffin are you? The only other ringgold I know of is way up there near chattanooga almsot onthe border....

But about the whole legal deal, a friend's lawyer said the information they obtained was obtained from an illegal search. They can't do anything with it as far as the cops go. Thats good to know.. wow.

 

I just thought of something... All text messaging/Multimedia mesaging costs money on your cell phone bill. They own him money on top of it beign illegal.

 

yeah, ringgold up in catoosa, infact, right now i live in chattanooga

 

As I said in the other thread, legal questions aside:

Taking pics of oneself smoking is stupid. The hassle caused by this cell pic clearly outweighs the bragging rights avalible by showing the picture to others.

 

it was a pic of a sack, not of me or anybody else smoking, and I had it on my phone because I sent it to my friends with an attatched message asking them if they needed herb.

 

thats where my grandparents live man. They live over near hamilton place mall if oyu know where that is

 

lol I love all the people here sayin they'd shit-kick the staff for searchin the phone.

Once again... you have no rights at school. Plain and simple. They can do what they want, and when they want. Illegal or not, they can always pursuade the court in these instances for the endangerment of other students, its sympahy man. They can get away with anything.

Lesson: Dont have things on you that will incriminate you later. Especially at school. The guy had it coming. Do I agree with it? No. Do I feel sorry for him? ..no

 

dude..... did you read my thread about this same exact shit going on in my town. 10 kids have been suspended so far because of staff members taking cell phones away and searching through the pictures and reading text messages. the kids wouldve been suspended if they withheld their batteries. but yea, if any staff SEES a cell phone theyll take it away and try to find anything on it to get you in trouble.