By upholding a student's refusal to provide a urine sample, the Seventh Circuit Court correctly avoided further erosion of the Fourth Amendment's privacy principle. In "New Jersey v T.L.O." (1995), the U.S. Supreme Court shrunk the probable-cause standard to reasonable suspicion in the special context of public schools, retaining the…

The 11th Circuit Court upheld a Georgia district's termination of an exemplary teacher who refused an immediate drug test after a police dog sniffed out a marijuana cigarette in her unlocked car. This case illustrates application of zero-tolerance policies to teachers and other personnel despite employees' signed contracts. (MLH)

Since 1990, there have been at least six published court decisions concerning teachers' use of controversial videos in public schools. A relevant district policy led the Colorado Supreme Court to uphold a teacher's termination for showing 12th graders an R-rated 1900 Bertolucci film on fascism. Implications are discussed. (MLH)