<p>I piggy-backed this topic on another thread, but thought it better to create a separate thread. Does a dorm room carry the same assumption of privacy as a private home? It’s my understanding that in most high schools students are told that there is no ‘assumption of privacy’ regarding their school lockers, for example, because the lockers are the property of the school. As a result, the school can search lockers if the administration chooses to do so, without regard to the privacy of the student. For example, would campus security or the municipality police be required to follow the same procedures to search a dorm room as those required for searching my home? Would this policy vary from school to school?</p>
<p>It varies on the basis of the boarding contract (at least to some extent). A school can reserve the right to enter the room in its agreement with the student. And, particularly in a private school, this could easily be upheld.</p>
<p>And of course a lot depends on the circumstances. In the case previously referred to, the kid yelled out that he had marijuana in his room. Police overhearing this could likely enter the room (or your house, if the kid yelled it out from there) without a warrant due to “exigent circumstances” - the possibility that the occupants could destroy evidence while a warrant was being obtained. In the case of a private house, they’d probably have to secure the rooms and the occupants and wait for the warrant before searching, but of course this does not apply to seizing anything that was in “plain sight”.</p>
<p>The requirements for warrants also can vary from state to state. While all states must conform to the US Constitution at a minimum, many states have their own constitutional requirements which can be more stringent than the US Constitution.</p>
<p>One thing that is clear, though, is that a roommate can consent to the search of the room, and often even to the search of the other occupant’s dresser, as there is no expectation of privacy between them.</p>