Assessing Students' Civil Rights Claims Against SROs

• In Event: Law Enforcement Officers in Schools

Abstract

School resource officers (SROs) are trained police officers stationed in schools and tasked with helping schools maintain order and safety. Over the past two decades, SROs have become commonplace in American public schools. SROs’ presence in schools raise important legal questions because they interact with students on a daily basis and are directly involved in schools’ efforts to control student behavior through school discipline and security efforts. This study explores students’ potential civil rights claims against SROs under Section 1983 by analyzing existing federal court opinions that have assessed such claims. Civil rights claims under Section 1983 are an important focal point because they are one of the only means for holding police accountable for violations of citizens’ (in this case, students’) civil rights. This analysis demonstrates that students’ potential civil rights remedies against abuses by SROs are significantly limited because of the considerable leeway provided to SROs in their interactions with students. This is due in part to existing student rights jurisprudence, which significantly curtails students’ rights in schools. It is also due SROs’ concurrent status as law enforcement officials and school administrators, which creates uncertain legal rules for student-SRO interactions.

Author

• Kerrin Wolf, Stockton University