This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I am a student in the Canyons School District. It has come to my attention that my constitutional rights as a public school student are uniformly compromised as a matter of routine policy.
According to case law and constitutional interpretations cited by the ACLU and various legal scholars, students do not lose their rights guaranteed by the Constitution simply by attending a public school. Furthermore, school administrators are not allowed to punish me for being critical of them, yet there are instances of administrators punishing students for criticizing them through social media. Administrators are also allowed to search me without probable cause.
Shocked at how this was possible, I mentioned this to a peer and she noted that by purchasing a parking pass and using a locker, I gave up my Fourth Amendment rights. The worst part about this is that my signature, some fine print and $15 of my fee money somehow made mocking the Constitution acceptable. Abdication of rights should not be a condition of public school attendance. Constitutional principles are not contingent and are not waived simply because the desire for citizenry control is deemed more important, or more convenient, in some misguided quarters.
Isaac Reese
Sandy