New Jersey v. T. L. O.

Decided January 15, 1985. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 83-712 · 469 U.S. 325 (1985) · Cited 2,391 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Terry v. Ohio · 392 U.S. 1 (1968)
• Camara v. Municipal Court of City and County of San Francisco · 387 U.S. 523 (1967)
• Illinois v. Gates · 462 U.S. 213 (1983)
• Goss v. Lopez · 419 U.S. 565 (1975)
• Ingraham v. Wright · 430 U.S. 651 (1977)
• United States v. Martinez-Fuerte · 428 U.S. 543 (1976)
• Carroll v. United States · 267 U.S. 132 (1925)
• United States v. Brignoni-Ponce · 422 U.S. 873 (1975)
• Welsh v. Wisconsin · 466 U.S. 740 (1984)
• United States v. Place · 462 U.S. 696 (1983)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Dunaway v. New York · 442 U.S. 200 (1979)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• McDonald v. United States · 335 U.S. 451 (1948)
• Board of Ed., Island Trees Union Free School Dist. No. 26 v. Pico · 457 U.S. 853 (1982)
• Mapp v. Ohio · 367 U.S. 643 (1961)
• Hudson v. Palmer · 468 U.S. 517 (1984)
• Brinegar v. United States · 338 U.S. 160 (1949)
• Stone v. Powell · 428 U.S. 465 (1976)
• Henry v. United States · 361 U.S. 98 (1959)
• Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc. · 436 U.S. 307 (1978)
• United States v. Leon · 468 U.S. 897 (1984)
• Florida v. Royer · 460 U.S. 491 (1983)
• Delaware v. Prouse · 440 U.S. 648 (1979)
• Adams v. Williams · 407 U.S. 143 (1972)
• Chambers v. Maroney · 399 U.S. 42 (1970)
• Mincey v. Arizona · 437 U.S. 385 (1978)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Michigan v. Long · 463 U.S. 1032 (1983)
• United States v. Robinson · 414 U.S. 218 (1973)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Safford Unified School District 1 v. Redding · 557 U.S. 364 (2009)
• O'CONNOR v. Ortega · 480 U.S. 709 (1987)
• Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton · 515 U.S. 646 (1995)
• Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives' Assn. · 489 U.S. 602 (1989)
• Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls · 536 U.S. 822 (2002)
• Griffin v. Wisconsin · 483 U.S. 868 (1987)
• United States v. Montoya De Hernandez · 473 U.S. 531 (1985)
• Ferguson v. City of Charleston · 532 U.S. 67 (2001)
• Maryland v. King · 569 U.S. 435 (2013)
• Morse v. Frederick · 551 U.S. 393 (2007)
• Maryland v. Buie · 494 U.S. 325 (1990)
• National Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab · 489 U.S. 656 (1989)
• Soldal v. Cook County · 506 U.S. 56 (1992)
• Wilson v. Arkansas · 514 U.S. 927 (1995)
• Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser · 478 U.S. 675 (1986)
• Illinois v. Caballes · 543 U.S. 405 (2005)
• Tennard v. Dretke, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division · 542 U.S. 274 (2004)
• Davis Ex Rel. LaShonda D. v. Monroe County Board of Education · 526 U.S. 629 (1999)
• Arizona v. Hicks · 480 U.S. 321 (1987)
• California v. Acevedo · 500 U.S. 565 (1991)
• Florida v. JL · 529 U.S. 266 (2000)
• Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz · 496 U.S. 444 (1990)
• City of Indianapolis v. Edmond · 531 U.S. 32 (2000)
• New York v. Burger · 482 U.S. 691 (1987)
• McKoy v. North Carolina · 494 U.S. 433 (1990)
• Waters v. Churchill · 511 U.S. 661 (1994)
• Wyoming v. Houghton · 526 U.S. 295 (1999)
• Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier · 484 U.S. 260 (1988)
• United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez · 494 U.S. 259 (1990)
• Maryland v. MacOn · 472 U.S. 463 (1985)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).