My school is going to breathalyze students to enter Prom

[Jeffersonian2012]

I am a junior at a high school in Illinois (get to vote next year). Prom is coming up and I just ordered tickets. I was given guidelines for Prom and on there it stated that EVERYONE has to take a breathalyzer test to enter prom and anyone who fails the test will be arrested. I am strongly under the impression that this violates the 4th amendment as there is no reasonable suspicion. The only way I believe they can do this is if there is a judge writing warrants as the students take the test which I highly doubt will happen. How should I handle this situation? I am thinking about going to prom and handing the cop a copy of the constitution and tell him how he is violating it.

 

[Ray]

They do it everywhere, I had to take one before my prom. Since prom is optional, your 4th amendment rights don't apply.

 

[dannno]

That's pretty lame.

 

[Jeffersonian2012]

They do it everywhere, I had to take one before my prom. Since prom is optional, your 4th amendment rights don't apply.

I never really thought about the optional thing. I still find it offensive however. They are basically stereotyping all of the students as drunkards. You can usually tell if someone has drank a lot and if you cant then that person probably didn't drink enough to have any effect on them. They should only breathalyze when they notice something out of the ordinary in a person.

 

[devil21]

They do it everywhere, I had to take one before my prom. Since prom is optional, your 4th amendment rights don't apply.

Hogwash. Just because it is "optional" doesn't mean your rights no longer apply. If that was so then "optional" driving would mean your rights to unreasonable search and seizure don't apply. "Optional" shopping means you could be searched without cause. Etc etc.

School administrators are government employees and generally have to afford you your rights. There are court cases that delineate exactly what your state allows when it comes to school intrustions of privacy, like suspicionless locker searches and bookbag searches. These same standards would generally apply to breathalyzers. But what if prom isn't on school property? Lots of issues to look into if you really want to know the answer.
I personally think it's a violation regardless of what some judge may have said. But the question becomes what are you going to do about it?

 

[mrsat_98]

Get a video camera and go in an hand them copies of 18 USC 241, 242 and 201 and make a scene about "who told you that you could deprive me of my rights ?"

 

[eduardo89]

That really sucks, and that's one of the reasons I'm so happy I finished high school in Europe. We had the school serving us booze at our prom!

 

[thedude]

They do it everywhere, I had to take one before my prom. Since prom is optional, your 4th amendment rights don't apply.

My thoughts exactly. It depends on where prom is. Prom is hardly ever held at a school anymore. Furthermore, most students must purchase a ticket to attend prom. Were the rules and guidelines of Prom announced prior to purchasing a ticket? If so, you've already agreed. Furthermore, it is not as though they are without reason. We had our bags searched in 2004 and a kid was booted off the trip for trying to bring alcohol. We were told about this before it happened, so this kid had to forfeit his ticket and no refund was to be expected. I realize this is different than being arrested, but it is illegal to drink underage. It isn't a trap, as you have the option not to drink before you go. You do have the option not to attend prom as well. A breathalyzer test is hardly invasive, just breathe... I've read somebody compare prom to driving... Unfortunately, the argument is invalid because prom is held on private property and planned by the student body.

 

[angelatc]

You should organize a boycott - or an alternative "Freedom Prom" next year.

 

[pcosmar]

You should organize a boycott - or an alternative "Freedom Prom" next year.

Don't go. And organize an alternate party.

They did not do this when I was in school. (does that make me sound old)
We had our "Graduation Party"(kegger) on the Indian Reservation, where we wouldn't be hassled.

 

[ivflight]

Is this at a public school? If so, they have no right to search without cause. In a private setting where you have the option not to attend and also the option not to pay the institution, these types of restrictions are fine. In a public school you're forced to subsidize the institution, so you may have the option not to go, but you never got the option not to pay for going = bullshit.

If the prom is 100% paid for and organized through voluntary means, then my argument above might not hold, and the folks encouraging an alternate prom have it right .

 

[specsaregood]

I guess all the kids will have to do harder drugs instead.

 

[ivflight]

Heh, do they breathalyze the adult chaperones? This may be the best type of protest - have the students insist on equality - everyone, including the parents and school staff need to be tested. It would be hard for the adults to argue against this.

BTW, have they set a threshold, or does any reading above 0 get you booted?

 

[Johnnymac]

yea my schools had always done it nothing new to me,

 

[dannno]

I guess all the kids will have to do harder drugs instead.

Yea I'll bet half the kids have already put in an order for some molly and there will probably be plenty of cocaine.

 

[Jeffersonian2012]

It is a public school and the dance will be held on school property. I thought about private property rights but public properties don't have those rights do they?

 

[virgil47]

I suppose they'll begin taking DNA samples next just in case an after Prom rape should occur. I'm sure if the school tries real hard it can come up with justification for DNA testing. Please don't argue it is an invasive test as saliva can provide a viable sample just as the air from your lungs provides the sample for the breath-a-lizer.

 

[Pericles]

This can't be real - I'm reading the Onion, right?

 

[SimpleName]

Well, lets see here. I cannot possibly think of a reason why students deplore school or rebel against their teachers and school administration. Why in the world would students, dealing with their own problems in their personal life, negatively react to schools that continually harass them, charge and punish them without evidence, and force them into a prison-like structure 6 hours a day 5 days a week 180 days of the year. These are human beings and they deserve to be treated as such. STOP TREATING STUDENTS LIKE CRIMINALS!

 

[Anti Federalist]

They do it everywhere, I had to take one before my prom. Since prom is optional, your 4th amendment rights don't apply.

yea my schools had always done it nothing new to me,

And with barely a shrug, the noose tightens a little more on the next generation.

This would have been considered insane when I was that age.