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If the drawer is not locked, the teacher has no reasonable expectation of privacy for the documents, and they are not subject to 4th amendment protection.

The drawer may not have been locked, but the room was. That should cloud things up a little. Personally, I don't leave anything at work that I wouldn't want handed to my boss or police. I pretty much figure my employer has the right to anything there. This issue gets more dicey when it is a public instution involved, but since I'd never work for a public institution, I haven't devled into the details of the matter.

"Personally, I don't leave anything at work that I wouldn't want handed to my boss or police. I pretty much figure my employer has the right to anything there."

Wise on your part, 4th amendment protections have been slowly eroding for many years, ever since the Terry stop started things rolling. (1966?). If you leave things at work, your employer can look at it. Same goes for computer use. (Which should scare everyone on here that works & posts.)

I'm not sure if this erosion is good or bad, but I doubt that the police officer in this case would be in violation of the 4th amendment under today's Supreme Court jurisprudence.

Trace