A minor is a male or female under 18 years old, but they still possess many of the same rights that adults have.
In school, students aren’t fully allowed their First Amendment rights.
According to a Board of Education policy, students may not use obscenity, profanity or indecency as well as wear “inappropriate or disruptive” clothing. As stated in the Blue Valley High School planner, failure to follow these policies or rules, along with others, “will result in disciplinary action.”
If a student were to argue they should be able to wear a certain article of clothing because of their First Amendment right of freedom of expression, it would not be accepted by administration.
However, in 1965, three high school students in Des Moines, Iowa, wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. The students were suspended by their school principal when they refused to remove them. Their fathers sued, creating the Tinker v. Des Moines court case. The students ended up winning the case because the First Amendment supported their argument.
If a police officer has reasonable suspicion that a minor has committed a crime, they’ll stop them just as they would if it were an adult.
Reasonable suspicion doesn’t exactly mean the officer has evidence, but it doesn’t mean the officer doesn’t have any evidence at all, either.
It’s typically described as a feeling or “hunch” the officer has that criminal acts have taken place or are about to. This still doesn’t give the officer the right to search an individual or their property under reasonable suspicion, though.
Even if there isn’t anything to hide, the Fourth Amendment right can be exercised by simply saying “No,” if a police officer is trying to search someone or their property.
There are only three ways an officer can legally search an individual’s property: the owner’s consent, probable cause or a search warrant.
Police officers can only obtain a search warrant from a judge, and they must have a way to confirm the search is necessary.
Probable cause means the officer has witnessed a criminal act. In that case, they are compelled to further question those who were involved.