Juvenile Law-Teen Rights
Teenagers who are under age 18 are citizens, and therefore—at least theoretically—have many of the same rights as adult citizens. However, in most states, minors are considered to be legally incompetent, which means they cannot enter into contractual relationships and, in large measure, are subject to the control of parents. However, that does not mean their rights can be trampled on. For instance, in regard to school related activities, juveniles do have certain due process rights in terms of being informed of any charges that are made against them and having a right to confront those charges through some sort of hearing process. The U.S. Supreme Court has stated that the schools do have a great deal of latitude in terms of maintaining proper discipline and decorum on school property. Therefore, privacy rights that may apply to people in their own home do not necessarily apply in a public school.
Example: If a student is hoarding drugs in his locker, he probably does not have a privacy right to that locker. The locker is not his property—it is public property, and he is violating the law by storing drugs in that locker. Therefore, if the school officials decide to go into that locker without his consent, they can do so.
Following up on that same example, suppose that a teacher accuses a student of hoarding drugs in his locker but there is no direct proof of that. Is it appropriate to put a memorandum in the student’s file stating that accusation? It probably would not be appropriate to do so and at the very least the student would have the right to certain procedural due process rights consisting of the right to know what the charge is that is being made against him and then the right to be heard on that charge. In this particular example, the student would have a right to know what the content is of that accusation from the teacher and then would have a right to make a presentation in front of the principal or other appropriate school official as to why that allegation is not true.
