Background: Over the past decade, courts increasingly have considered cases that involve clashes between public, secular private, and religious institutions in education. Such clashes appear to have intensified as recently as the 2019-2020 Supreme Court term, and the confirmation of Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Court in 2020 suggests…

The purpose of this "Equity by Design" brief is to aid administrators in protecting sexual and gender minority students from discrimination and harassment. Specifically, this Brief presents Title IX's conceptualizations of sex and harassment to identify who is protected, and from what. Further, it discusses how to navigate backlash…

This study explores four instances where parental choice has been employed as a legal "circuit breaker": (a) First Amendment Establishment Clause cases related to public funding, (b) Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection cases regarding race-conscious student assignment, (c) Title IX regulations concerning single-sex education, and (d) a…

This four-day learning activity on the controversy of exclusion of gays and subsequently atheists in Boy Scouting is particularly relevant because it highlights the complexities that surround issues of equality, equity, the provision of leisure services, First Amendment rights, and the implications of court decisions on social justice. This lesson…

Courts have long held that public school teachers are "state actors" when they carry out the duties of their job. Despite this, very few teacher preparation programs include an education law class. In order to understand teachers' legal literacy, a survey was given to 300 public school teachers in Indiana. The survey assessed knowledge…

Survival for public school teachers goes beyond curriculum design, discipline and other skills. School law is critical for teachers to face the areas of challenge that are currently present. There are two types of common legal mistakes made by teachers: a) failing to take disciplinary action when they should, and b) unintentionally violating…

Student speech has and continues to be a contested issue in schools. The Supreme Court ruled in "Tinker" that students do not shed their rights at the schoolhouse gate; in the "Kuhlmeier" and "Fraser" decisions, however, the Court gave school officials greater latitude in regulating student speech, especially when it…

Some private, religious schools that accept vouchers have been accused of discriminating against certain populations of students through their admissions processes. Discriminating against disfavored groups (e.g., racial minorities, LGBT students, students with disabilities, religious minorities) in voucher programs raises both legal and policy…

Comments on the Meese Report on pornography and why the library community should pay attention to the actual text. Positive alternatives to censorship are suggested to counter the commercialization of sex, e.g., giving women more decisive roles in media production and strengthening alternative media. (EM)

The primary purpose of this article, the eighteenth chapter in a book on school law, is to discuss significant Supreme Court cases decided since 1977 concerning burden of proof in civil rights cases. In two cases, "Dayton Board of Education v. Brinkman" and "Columbus Board of Education v. Penick," the Court's most significant…

This serial issue concerns itself with several conflicts between individual rights and allegedly wrongful acts that the Supreme Court has not considered previously. The articles on these topics illuminate the constitutional issues of equal protection, due process, and freedom of expression. Specific issues addressed include: (1) equal educational…

In the case of RAV v. City of St. Paul, a teenager was charged with violating the city's Bias-Motivated Crime Ordinance after being accused of burning a cross inside the fenced yard of a black family. In a 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court struck down the St. Paul ordinance, a decision which raised a question as to whether many college and…

The authors debate whether institutions of higher learning should impose regulations or speech codes to ban sexually harassive speech believed to foster gender-based discrimination. Masters insists that narrowly crafted controls are necessary to make colleges and universities inviting to all. Dagley argues that speech codes are improper because…

The Media and Law section of this collection of conference presentations contains the following 12 papers: "An Analysis of the Role of Insurance, Prepublication Review and Correction Policies in Threatened and Actual Libel Suits" (Elizabeth K. Hansen and Roy L. Moore); "Private Defamation Plaintiffs and Falsity since 'Philadelphia…

Analyzes the United States Supreme Court's reversal of "Memphis County School Distruct v. Stachura," a District Court decision to compensate a temporarily suspended life sciences teacher for damages involving deprivation of his constitutional rights. Views this decision as one more obstacle blocking individuals' progress against…