S.D.Ind.: IU RAs can enter dorm rooms for announced “health and safety inspections”

Indiana University Resident Advisors in the dormitories conducted a quarterly announced “health and safety inspection” of dorm rooms, and a small quantity of marijuana was seen in plaintiff’s room. The RAs were not “state actors.” A campus police officer came when called, and his warrantless entry was lawful. While students have some reasonable expectation of privacy in the dorm rooms, it isn’t absolute. (“See Serpas v. Schmidt, 827 F.2d 23, 28 (7th Cir. 1987), abrogated in part on other grounds by Leroy v. Ill. Racing Bd., 39 F.3d 711, 714 (7th Cir. 1994) (holding that on-track dormitory rooms for racetrack employees must be considered ‘homes’ under the Fourth Amendment); Morale v. Grigel, 422 F. Supp. 988, 997 (D.N.H. 1976) (‘A dormitory room is a student’s home away from home, and any student may reasonably expect that once the door is closed to the outside, his or her solitude and secrecy will not be disturbed by a governmental intrusion …’)”) The marijuana could be used against him in a student disciplinary proceeding. Medlock v. Trs. of Ind. Univ., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44408 (S.D. Ind. March 28, 2013).

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