Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. J.B. 719A.2d 1058 (Pa.Super. 1998)

Facts of the Case

Officer Singelton, a school public officer who was employed by the Philadelphia school board and was on patrol in Martin Luther King High School encountered a student, J.B., in the hallway while classes were changing between periods. J.B. was staggering, seemed confused, and after repeated questioning appeared to have slurred speech. Since there is no smell of alcohol, Officer Singelton suspected drug use and escorted J.B. to the in-house police office where he ordered J.B. to empty his pockets. Offficer Singelton discovered a small bag of marijuana and a pocketknife in the cuff of J.B.'s pants. Officer Singelton gave these items to the Philadelphia Police Department. The Commonwealth began delinquency proceedings. At a suppression hearing, a municipal court judge suppressed the seized evidence, but the Court of Common Pleas reversed the suppression order. There was a trial and J.B. was adjudicated delinquent and sentenced to fifteen months of non-reporting probation. After this J.B. filed a petition for a writ of certiorari which was denied by the court. J.B. then appealed to Superior Court.

Juvenile J.B. appealed to Pennsylvania Superior Court stating that Officer Singelton violated his rights protecting him against unreasonable search and seizure, and that no reasonable suspicion had been established prior to the search.

Decision of the Court

The Superior Court decided that individual searches of students in public schools, which are conducted by school officials, including school police officers, are subject to a reasonable suspicion standard under the Pennsylvania Constitution. Since Officer Singelton had reasonable suspicion to suspect J.B. was under the influence of a controlled substance and his search of J.B. was reasonably related to his suspicion, the Superior Court affirmed the order denying the writ of certiorari.

Basis for the Decision

In regards to the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, The Superior Court used the T.L.O. reasonableness test, New Jersey v. T.L.O, 469 U.S. 325 (1985), to analyze the actions of Officer Singelton to see if his actions were justified at the inception of the search and to determine if the search was reasonably related in scope to J.B.'s conduct.

In regards to article one, section eight of the Pennsylvania Constitution, the Superior Court used Commonwealth v. Cass, 709 A.2d 350 (Pa 1998) and other case law to determine that a reasonable suspicion standard applies when school officials, including school police officers, conduct an individualized school search of a student when acting on their own authority.

Abstract prepared by Angela C. Gibson and Brent M. Hamilton , July 9, 1999