Students Sue Over Dorm Search

Six current and former Bucknell University students claim in a new federal lawsuit that searches of a fraternity and another campus residential building early last year violated constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure.

Mechanicsburg attorney Devon Jacob said Friday the searches were illegal and conducted under a policy the school has maintained for decades. He said a housing agreement they signed did not permit searches of the kind at issue.
 
Bucknell, Jacob said, is "saying that that signature waives their constitutional rights, and it doesn't. The case law's clear on that."
 
The lawsuit said that the February 2012 searches by university police and personnel from two local sheriff's offices turned up a small amount of marijuana and smoking paraphernalia, although the university said LSD and synthetic marijuana also were recovered. Some students were disciplined as a result.
 
The lawsuit said someone involved with the search pulled fire alarms at Kappa Sigma Alphi Pi and the other building, located on the same block. After the students exited the buildings, their personal effects were searched for about three hours with the help of two dogs.

"We are aware of the filing," Bucknell spokesman Andy Hirsch said. "The claims made in that filing are baseless and we'll be disputing them in court."

Hirsch said a search warrant was not obtained because the searches were not intended to form the basis of criminal charges. He said they were authorized under a section of the student handbook that permits them if the dean thinks there is contraband or ongoing illegal activity, a violation of school rules or a danger to a building or occupants.

Along with the officers involved, the defendants also include top administrators and Montour and Union counties. Messages left late Friday for officials in the two counties were not immediately returned.
 
The lawsuit seeks damages and a declaration that the defendants' rights under the First and Fourth amendments to the U.S. Constitution - and the state constitution's search protections - were violated.
 
The plaintiffs are identified only by their initials, and Jacob is asking for the case to be certified as a class action because the two buildings housed about 60 students at the time.