The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 3 - 72

Richard Fossey

Medlock v. Trustees of Indiana
University: A Regulatory Dorm Search
by University Employees Does Not
Require a Warrant
Medlock v. Trustees of Indiana University,
decided in 2013 by the seventh Circuit Court
of appeals, promises to become one of the
leading cases on the constitutionality of dorm
searches at public universities. Written by the
seventh Circuit's esteemed Judge richard
posner, the decision approved conduct by
indiana university (iu) employees (graduate
students) who conducted a routine inspection
of Zachary medlock's dormitory room after
providing ample notice that an inspection
would take place.
as noted in the seventh Circuit's opinion,
iu's student-housing officials gave students
one week's notice that their dormitory rooms
would be inspected, and students were reminded of the inspection via intercom on the
day the inspection took place. While inspecting
medlock's dorm room, two graduate students
spied a clear plastic tube containing a substance one inspector believed to be marijuana.
an inspector called campus police, and an
officer arrived, confiscated the tube and departed. Continuing their inspection of medlock's
room, the graduate students found a rolled-up
blanket at the bottom of medlock's door, "presumably intended to keep smoke from wafting
into the bathroom . . . while [medlock] smoked
marijuana in his bedroom." (p. 870). medlock
had left his closet door slightly ajar; and the inspectors, looking in, found a six-foot-high marijuana plant in medlock's closet. the students
again called campus police, who obtained a
search warrant. a police search turned up
various items associated with smoking mari72

For higher education officials,
Medlock is most significant for
its ruling that routine dorm-room
inspections by university officials
are regulatory searches that do
not require a warrant so long as
the searches are not conducted
for law enforcement purposes .

juana, including pipes and a fluorescent light
(commonly called a "grow light"), which could
be used to grow marijuana indoors. they also
found 89 grams of marijuana, not including
the marijuana plant (p. 870).
police arrested medlock for felony possession of marijuana, but officials later dropped
the charges. the university's dean of students
suspended medlock for one year, and a university administrative hearing upheld this
decision. medlock returned to iu after his oneyear suspension, and the university gave him
a part-time job while he resumed his studies.
nevertheless, he sued the university, claiming
a violation of his right to due process and his
right to privacy under the fourth amendment;
he asked a federal court to expunge the university's disciplinary record pertaining to the
marijuana incident. a federal trial judge dismissed his case, and medlock appealed.
Judge posner, writing for a seventh Circuit
panel, affirmed the trial court's decision. in
Judge posner's opinion, medlock's lawsuit was
"near frivolous" (p. 873). in particular, there

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 3

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