Different from more traditional policy-making avenues, the courts provide an antipolitical arena that does not require broad agreement from various constituents for policy enactment. Seeking to guide court decisions on these policy issues, individuals and organizations have filed "amicus" briefs that increasingly include social science…

This study examines the United States Supreme Court's use of social science research in Fourteenth Amendment race-based discrimination cases in professional and graduate school admissions. It discusses how the Court uses (or does not use) social science research in its interpretation of "equal protection" and "discrimination"…

This dissertation explored the constitutionality of a Georgia law, under both the Georgia Constitution and the United States Constitution, which allows for the removal of elected school board members based on threatened loss of district accreditation. The problem is that elected board members are being removed from office based on district…

The authors' recent study of all published decisions in state and federal courts concerning superintendent termination led to a surprising finding: The decisions overwhelmingly favored school districts. In this article, the authors examine several superintendents' intriguing cases. The authors also discuss practical lessons for superintendents.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution holds that states must provide due process and equal protection to those with a life, liberty, or property right. College students have a property and liberty interest in the public education that they receive and the courts require notice and hearing before a deprivation of one of these…

It is imperative that school administrators, athletic directors, and interscholastic/athletic associations become knowledgeable in the area of interscholastic athletics at the secondary level and fully understand its potential for litigation. Thus, the purpose of this research study is to examine issues, outcomes, and legal trends involving…

Despite the precedent established in the "University of California Board of Regents v. Bakke," that race may be used as a factor in admissions policies at state institutions of higher education, state and federal court decisions were divided over whether the use of race in admissions decisions was a violation of the Equal Protection…

Since 1996, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), located in Southern California, has been under a federal court consent decree requiring compliance with laws pertaining to the delivery of special education services and the elimination of architectural barriers in schools. In 2003, the consent decree was modified, creating…

Reviews the Supreme Court's decision in "Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education" affirming court-ordered desegregation to remedy government-sanctioned desegregation. Discusses decision by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that ended federal court supervision of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District's efforts to achieve…

Jesse Vail sued an Illinois board of education in federal court over a contract dispute. The court awarded Vail damages, the decision was upheld on appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court will be reviewing the decision in 1984. (MD)

Reviews the 1977 Supreme Court decision in "Ingraham vs. Wright." The court held that the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment and the procedural due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment did not apply to corporal punishment in the public schools. (MD)

After reviewing the history of corporal punishment in schools, author discusses "Ingraham v. Wright," wherein the U.S. Supreme Court found that the use of corporal punishment in schools was not unconstitutional. Calls for the federal courts to ensure that a student's 14th Amendment liberty interest is protected when subjected to…

Chapter 1 of a book on school law, this article analyzes the role of the U.S. Supreme Court, and contends that there has been a judicial takeover of functions that had been delegated by the Constitution to the states and to the people. Specifically, the author argues that much of the Supreme Court's expansion of its powers rests on the selective…

The Supreme Court issued an unclear decision in "Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education." The case generated five opinions that do not agree on a single set of legal principles to give needed guidance to public officials. Includes discussion of two other cases relating to affirmative action and hiring practices. (MD)

"State action" is a term used to describe claims arising under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act for which a private party is seeking damages because the state has violated that party's civil rights. Cases are summarized illustrating the doctrine's evolution over the past century. The 1875 Civil…