Board of Education v. Earls

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Board of Education v. Earls

Argued March 19, 2002
Decided June 27, 2002

Full case name:	Board of Education of Independent School District of Pottawatomie County et al. v. Earls et al.

Citations:	536 U.S. 822
Prior history:	On writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeals of the Tenth Circuit

Holding

Coercive drug testing imposed by school district upon students who participate in extracurricular activities does not violate the Fourth Amendment.

Court membership

Chief Justice: William Rehnquist
Associate Justices: John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer

Case opinions

Majority by: Thomas
Joined by: Kennedy, Scalia, Rehnquist
Concurrence by: Breyer
Dissent by: Ginsburg
Joined by: Stevens, O'Connor, Souter
Dissent by: O'Connor
Joined by: Souter

Laws applied

U.S. Const. amend. IV

Board of Education v. Earls, 536 U.S. 822 (2002) was a 2002 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States which ruled, 5-4, that mandatory drug testing of students in extracurricular activities was constitutional. It was brought by two parents against the school board of Tecumseh, Oklahoma, alleging that their policy requiring students to consent to random urinalysis testing for drug use violated the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The majority decision, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, with a concurring opinion by Justice Stephen Breyer, held that students in extracurricular activities had a diminished expectation of privacy, and that the policy furthered an important interest of the school in preventing drug use among students. This rationale was based on the precedent Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton, which allowed drug testing for athletes.