In late 1987, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron R. White circulated a draft opinion to his colleagues in a case about whether high school journalists had the right to be free of interference from school administrators. His opinion in the case, "Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier," sided with Missouri administrators who some four years…

The trial in Ward Churchill's lawsuit against the University of Colorado got under way here last week with lawyers for the opposing sides painting starkly different pictures of both the controversial ethnic-studies professor and the circumstances surrounding his dismissal by the university in 2007. In delivering their opening remarks in a crowded…

Social studies and history teachers should be free to expose students to controversial ideas and to teach critical thinking skills. But are they free? Do they have the constitutional right--call it academic freedom--to teach what they want and to discuss controversial issues in the classroom? The short answer is "no." In this article,…

The speech communication department at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, provides a rigorous and legally oriented course in freedom of speech. The objectives of the course are to help students gain insight into the historical and philosophical foundations of the First Amendment, the legal/judicial processes concerning the First Amendment, and…

Describes a recent court decision in which a school board and the superintendent did not support a teacher when he came under fire from the community for teaching a controversial subject. The teacher won his case against the district because it had violated the academic freedom rule and denied the teacher due process.(MD)

Discusses "Mozert v. Hawkins County Public Schools" (Tennessee), a case involving a controversial reading textbook offending fundamentalist parents of six middle school children. The Court of Appeals reversed a district court ruling, holding that uniform use of the Holt textbook was not essential to the state's goals to teach reading.…

Discusses a California case involving a tenured professor's controversial teaching style, which focused on "obscene" topics and assignments that allegedly humiliated female students. The professor eventually prevailed in a Ninth Circuit appeal. The lesson: when attempting to eradicate sexual harassment, we cannot abandon important First…

Regarding Catholic parents' suit against a suburban New York district for promoting occult activities, a federal court ruled in May 1999 that parents had failed to prove existence of the so- called Bedford program. This Solomon-like ruling also rejected First Amendment religious claims and 14th Amendment privacy claims. (MLH)

Advocating the complete separation of church and state, the author outlines the history of the present debate over the school-religion controversy. Includes a detailed discussion of interpretations of the First Amendment (especially the establishment clause) and Supreme Court decisions relating to the issue. (MD)

Court litigation and decisions concerning the conflict between first amendment rights of free speech for United States citizens and the rights of controversial international figures, invited by college faculty to speak on campus, are discussed and compared. (MSE)

The role of religion in American society has been ignored by textbook publishers and is not being taught in U.S. schools. The support for the separation of church and state is eroding as a result. Includes a sidebar providing supplementary resource materials on religion for use by teachers. (MD)

Disagreements over teachers' First Amendment, academic-freedom rights in curricular contexts are again receiving judicial attention. Two federal cases involving termination of exemplary high-school drama and creative-writing teachers have upheld school boards' authority to control curriculum context in disagreements over permissable subject matter…

Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish parochial schools have always had religious studies as part of their curriculum, but there has been the question about whether public schools can also. "In 1962 two U.S. Supreme Court cases (Abington School District vs. Schempp and Engle vs. Vitale) prohibited the practice of Bible reading in public schools.…

Outlines a lesson for high school students covering religious controversies in New York City schools in the 1840s. Issues pertain to Irish-Catholic immigrants' objections to public school religious instruction and attempts to obtain public support for parochial schools. Includes handouts concerning religious freedom, Bishop John Hughes' opinion,…

Presents an overview of the increase in incidents involving censorship in all areas of the United States. (NKA)