This fifth chapter of "The Yearbook of School Law, 1986" summarizes and analyzes state and federal court decisions handed down in 1985 involving claims of torts (civil wrongs, other than those involving breach of contract) committed by elementary or secondary educational institutions or personnel. Among the topics reviewed are claims of…

School boards need to keep current on the status of graduation prayer. The "Weisman" decision said graduation prayers violated the First Amendment; the "Jones" decision would allow graduation ceremonies with student-led invocations and benedictions. Reviews these decisions to pinpoint the sources of confusion in subsequent…

Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 was designed as a flexible and broadly scoped statute to restrict a wide variety of actions of state officials. During the past 15 years the number of court cases in which provisions of the 1871 act have been applied to school-related issues has increased geometrically. In 1961 the provisions of the act…

This book is limited to a study of the education opinions of the Supreme Court during the time that Warren Earl Burger served as Chief Justice. Over 100 opinions having direct bearing on education were issued during the Burger years, a total greater than in the entire Court's history. The first chapter presents the history of the establishment of…