A federal court held that a state law requiring one minute of meditation or prayer in the public schools is legal. (IRT)

Discusses a case in which the courts upheld the school district's policies concerning the content of student publications. Concludes that perhaps the time has come that the schools can enforce rules that not only serve the legitimate interests of the schools, but also provide adequate protection for student rights. (Author/IRT)

When the rhetoric is removed, it is clear that the students' lawyers were asserting that it is unconstitutional for school board members to resort to their own political, social, and moral views when making decisions affecting the curriculum. The courts did not agree. (Author/IRT)

The Dayton decision is the clearest and most direct statement made by the Supreme Court about the necessity for closely tailoring any desegregation remedy to the scope of the constitutional violation. (Author/IRT)

This case is significant because it goes further than any other earlier decision in describing the outlines of the substantive due process concept as it applies to school discipline. (Author)

Presents divergent opinions of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (for the plurality), Justice Antonin Scalia, and Justice Harry Blackmun in the Supreme Court decision to return the case of "O'Connor v. Ortega" (questioning the constitutionality of searching a public employee's office) to the district court. O'Connor rejected the notion that…

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…

A district court decision that the firing of a bisexual counselor violated free speech and equal protection of the law was reversed by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Although the United States Supreme Court declined to review the case, Justices Brennan and Marshall wrote dissenting opinions claiming unresolved constitutional issues. (MLF)

This paper argues that courts have tended to identify and enforce individual rights at the expense, in many instances, of the ability of school boards and legislatures to carry out what they perceive to be the will of the majority of voters in their jurisdictions. The trend emphasizing individual rights began in 1954 with the Supreme Court…