Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday that school administrators donít need a warrant to search high school students for drugs.

The justices ruled in a unanimous opinion that principals and other school officials can conduct a search if they have, quote, 'reasonable suspicion' that a student possesses illegal drugs. That's a lower standard than the one used for most police searches.

The case stems from an incident at a suburban Portland high school.

Morgan Smith is an attorney with the Oregon School Boards Association. He filed a brief in support of the school. He says students' freedom from searches depends on where they are:Morgan Smith: "So if you're in a school environment, your right to privacy is going to be a little bit lessened because the school administrator has a greater right to invade that privacy for the sake of protecting the safety of other students and for essentially running the educational program." Smith says the ruling largely upholds existing practice in Oregon, which was already based on a federal standard.

Until now no one had challenged the right for school officials to search students in Oregon.

On the Web:Oregon Supreme Court Ruling