Spring Break
Know your rights: the 4th Amendment on campus
By: Connor Mendenhall
Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: Opinions
Every year, scores of students are evicted from UA residence halls for alcohol and drug violations.
A cursory look at the Wildcat's popular "Police Beat" reveals that many of those evictions could be avoided if students merely exercised their rights. Unfortunately, too few students are aware of their Constitutional rights and their ability to stand up for them - and sometimes, the UA wants to keep it that way.
Before moving into campus housing, all UA students sign a license agreement - a contract laying out their financial and personal responsibilities. The majority of the document is devoted to rent and payment schedules, which makes it easy to overlook its most powerful line: section 15b, in which the university reserves the right "To enter and inspect residence rooms by authorized personnel at any time to verify inventory records or occupancy; to perform maintenance; to enforce safety, health and University Student Code of Conduct or Housing Community Standards; or during an emergency."
Sounds reasonable - there are many legitimate situations when the UA should have access to a student's room, like replacing a leaky air conditioner, turning off a wailing alarm clock or giving a resident medical attention. Unfortunately, sometimes enforcing conduct standards conflicts with a more important document: the Bill of Rights.
The fourth amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects against unreasonable search and seizure, requiring probable cause before any government actor can intrude on your privacy. Case law supports the notion that it extends to your dorm room: Morale v. Grigel held that public universities are subject to the fourth amendment, Smith v. Lubbers and State v. Kappes suggest that resident assistants are state actors unless conducting routine inspections, and the doctrine of "unconstitutional conditions" (see Piazolla v. Watkins) says that no matter how hard you try, you can't sign away your constitutional rights as a condition of living in a dorm.
A cursory look at the Wildcat's popular "Police Beat" reveals that many of those evictions could be avoided if students merely exercised their rights. Unfortunately, too few students are aware of their Constitutional rights and their ability to stand up for them - and sometimes, the UA wants to keep it that way.
Before moving into campus housing, all UA students sign a license agreement - a contract laying out their financial and personal responsibilities. The majority of the document is devoted to rent and payment schedules, which makes it easy to overlook its most powerful line: section 15b, in which the university reserves the right "To enter and inspect residence rooms by authorized personnel at any time to verify inventory records or occupancy; to perform maintenance; to enforce safety, health and University Student Code of Conduct or Housing Community Standards; or during an emergency."
Sounds reasonable - there are many legitimate situations when the UA should have access to a student's room, like replacing a leaky air conditioner, turning off a wailing alarm clock or giving a resident medical attention. Unfortunately, sometimes enforcing conduct standards conflicts with a more important document: the Bill of Rights.
The fourth amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects against unreasonable search and seizure, requiring probable cause before any government actor can intrude on your privacy. Case law supports the notion that it extends to your dorm room: Morale v. Grigel held that public universities are subject to the fourth amendment, Smith v. Lubbers and State v. Kappes suggest that resident assistants are state actors unless conducting routine inspections, and the doctrine of "unconstitutional conditions" (see Piazolla v. Watkins) says that no matter how hard you try, you can't sign away your constitutional rights as a condition of living in a dorm.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 2
Grow Up
posted 3/03/08 @ 6:56 AM PST
You can't claim to be an adult and demand that someone hold your hand the entire time. Grow up. It is your responsibility as an adult to read your own lease, because you are entering into a contract. (Continued…)
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