Idaho Court of Appeals upholds school's search of student's car

November 28, 2011

BOISE, Idaho: The Idaho Court of Appeals ruled unanimously to uphold a warrantless search performed by an Idaho public school. The search of an 18-year-old student's car was performed in 2009. The school performed the search because the student, Joseph Voss, smelled of cigarette smoke. Tobacco products are banned on school grounds. A marijuana pipe and brass knuckles found in Voss's car during the search led to misdemeanor drug and weapon charges. In his opinion, judge Sergio Gutierrez wrote that, "There is no question that the assistant principal had reasonable suspicion that Voss was violating the school policy. Voss was on school grounds, smelled of cigarettes, and had driven his car to school that morning. As Voss did not have cigarettes on his person, an obvious and customary place to also look was Voss’s vehicle.” The court ruled that schoolyard searches are held to a different standard than other searches. Voss and his attorneys argued that the school's policy prohibiting an adult student's possession of tobacco on school grounds was flawed and violated Voss's rights.