Twenty-five years ago, law suits seeking recovery against the individual resources of school board members were virtually unheard of. Now, personal judgments impacting upon the individual resources of board members are commonplace. The legal developments that have contributed to this rather sudden change of circumstances are explained in this…

Two recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court have emasculated First Amendment guarantees for military personnel. In the first case, Parker v. Levy, an Army captain urged enlisted Special Forces personnel at his post to refuse to go to Viet Nam, claiming that "Special Forces personnel are liars and thieves and killers of peasants…

Federal courts have been charged with devising relief that corrects unconstitutional school segregation since the Supreme Court's historic decision against state-approved dual school systems in "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" in 1954. The split decisions of the Supreme Court in segregation cases during the 1970s have made it…

The speaker examines the issue of the legal liability of individual school board members as it has arisen as a result of such court cases as Wood v. Strickland and Goss v. Lopez. The discussion includes questions of infringement on students' and teachers' rights and cases of school officials acting as individuals rather than in an official…

Recent rulings of the United States Supreme Court and other courts have tried to maintain a balance between a free and unintimidated press and some measure of protection for individuals against libelous accusations. The language of recent rulings suggests that the courts are focusing on impartiality and objectivity in reporting as a standard of…

Parents generally expect public school districts to provide for their children's care and safety while they are at school. Although in the first half of the twentieth century common law tended to make school officials immune from suit, more recently public school districts, school employees, officers, and elected boards have been successfully sued…

Dress codes directed at gang attire present school officials with the dilemma of ensuring the safety of the students in a school environment versus the First Amendment rights of students to express themselves. A review of some of the court decisions limited to freedom of expression and general dress code cases serves as a foundation from which to…

Supreme Court decisions made during the previous and present terms as well as some that will be rendered next term are discussed. Among the cases, the following are of particular relevance to school board members. In "Memphis Community Schools v. Stachura" the Court declared that damages based on the "value" of constitutional…

This paper reviews federal and state court interpretations of federal and state laws concerning the responsibilities of local school districts in providing free and appropriate education for handicapped children. Particular attention is paid to the building principal's responsibility in carrying out the mandated policies at the operational level,…