Hmmmmmm. Principal at a school board meeting nearby to the high school in 94611 . . . you guys must be Hairys. So considering that at least one adult out of every six in Piedmont is a lawyer, statistically one of your parents should be able to answer the question.

Seriously though the authority of school administrators to conduct warrantless searches of students and their belongings is not confined to school hours (they are free to open lockers after hours, for example), and may under certain circumstances extend off school grounds. So the back-pack search was most very likely entirely legal. Since the backpack search was legal, and disclosed contraband material related to automobile operations, I would say that the police and the administrator both then had probable cause to search the car. That's not a slam dunk, and if you were my client I'd have to research it to be sure, but I'm fairly confident that both searches were legal.

Hmmmmmm. Principal at a school board meeting nearby to the high school in 94611 . . . you guys must be Hairys. So considering that at least one adult out of every six in Piedmont is a lawyer, statistically one of your parents should be able to answer the question.

Seriously though the authority of school administrators to conduct warrantless searches of students and their belongings is not confined to school hours (they are free to open lockers after hours, for example), and may under certain circumstances extend off school grounds. So the back-pack search was most very likely entirely legal. Since the backpack search was legal, and disclosed contraband material related to automobile operations, I would say that the police and the administrator both then had probable cause to search the car. That's not a slam dunk, and if you were my client I'd have to research it to be sure, but I'm fairly confident that both searches were legal.