Council for American Private Education (CAPE) is a coalition of national associations serving private schools K-12. "Outlook" is published monthly by CAPE. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Supreme Court Issues 9-0 Ruling in Religious School Case; (2) White House Honors Champions of Change; and (3) CAPE Notes.

Many people in the early childhood education field are afraid of government relations work, intimidated by politicians, and believe the whole process is unseemly. The author asserts that they should not be afraid nor be intimidated because government relations is not rocket science and fundamentally officeholders are no different from the rest of…

In the twenty-first century, differences in the treatment of trade in alcoholic beverages in comparison to other commercial goods seem at odds with the federal regulation of interstate trade under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, which prohibits "differential treatment of in-state and out-of-state economic interests that…

Notes that despite recent United States Supreme Court decisions that have been unfavorable to the press, a First Amendment-based conditional privilege protecting the editorial process against governmental intrusion survives. (FL)

Americans are constantly reevaluating their commitment to First Amendment rights and values and rearranging their priorities, asking themselves whether life would be more civil, more orderly, less threatening if the excesses of expression were somehow more subdued. That clear sense of unease permeates this second State of the First Amendment…

A common misconception among first-year university students is that the United States provides unabridged, uncensored absolute free speech rights. Evidently these assumptions are derived from popular press and entertainment industry images which place heavy emphasis on one end of the debate. It is a shock for some students to be exposed to the…

Disclosure of information to the investing public is a primary purpose of federal regulation of the securities industry and one of the primary duties and responsibilities of financial public relations practitioners. Disclosure requirements are numerous, with most mandating publicly held corporations to disclose information. Some requirements,…

Suggests focusing on the actions of government that restrict free expression rather than focusing on the values served by freedom of expression. Bases the approach on the premise that the court's function is to determine when a particular government action violates the First Amendment, not whether the expression at issue is entitled to…

This paper argues that in recent years the number of aliens being denied nonimmigrant visas to the United States because of their liberal political views has increased. The roles of each of the branches of government in the procedure of denying visas are reviewed. The number of visa denials in the lower courts has risen dramatically since 1980,…

We are in the midst of a genuine First Amendment Crises. Government officials, who are totally immune from libel or slander suits for anything they write or say or do in office, are free to sue the people they are supposed to serve. Examples are provided. (RM)

Recent court decisions on student religious groups and the Equal Access Act passed by Congress conflict on interpretation of the Constitution. Until a Supreme Court decision resolves the issues, school boards in jurisdictions affected by the decisions should obey the rulings; others should get legal advice. (MD)

Suggesting future lines of inquiry for policymakers and others, this report attempts to distill the essential points of discussion and debate that occurred during a conference on electronic media regulation and the first amendment attended by 21 experts representing legislative, regulatory, business, judicial, academic, audience, and media…

The legal action brought by author J. D. Salinger against Random House Publishers to prevent certain letters--now the property of various university libraries--from being published in a biography illustrates how the long-standing accommodation between the Copyright Act and the First Amendment can occasionally break down. Although the biographer…

An analysis of first amendment guarantees focuses on the federal government's power to regulate experiments, arguing that they do not merit the stringent level of first amendment protection offered by strict scrutiny or related standards. (Author/MSE)

Describes a five-day instructional unit designed for seventh and eighth graders about the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Points out that the individual rights in the First Amendment often conflict with the rights of the majority. Provides student questions and suggestions for resources and activities. (CFR)