Teacher use of social networking sites such as Facebook has presented some ethical dilemmas for policy makers. In this article, we argue that schools are justified in taking action against teachers when evidence emerges from social networking sites that teachers are (a) doing something that is illegal, (b) doing something that reflects badly on…

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…

Cyberbullying has been identified by school leaders and researchers as one of the most serious adverse consequences of incorporating information technology into the classroom. This article examines the legal status of cyberbullying by conducting an analysis of selected federal appellate court opinions. This analysis identifies a set of legal…

This study examined the extent to which Texas school boards of education made efforts to locally modify student speech policy. Using online policy manuals provided by the Texas Association of School Boards, speech policies for 91 school districts were gathered using a purposive stratified sampling procedure and examined for local modifications to…

In response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the USA PATRIOT Act greatly expanded the ability of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to use National Security Letters (NSLs) in investigations and the contexts in which they could be used by relaxing the standards under which NSLs could be employed. NSLs allow investigators to acquire a significant…

Rather than focus on "who" makes the determination about students' access to sexually explicit expression, this volume examines the legal issues affecting "whether" to permit that access and "how much" access to allow. In sum, this book is intended to facilitate meaningful discussion about the regulation of minors'…

Argues that First Amendment rights are not possible without the grant of public access to information provided by the doctrine of fair use. Notes that, with digitalization and electronic transfer, many corporate intellectual-property lawyers are pressuring for tightening public access. Argues that educators must understand that the existence of…

Suggests that a definitive court ruling is needed to better define rights and responsibilities related to the First Amendment and libraries' Internet use policies so that libraries can provide a comfortable environment for users while maintaining the law. Discusses filters; court cases; claims of the anti-porn cult; research studies on how much of…

In October, 1998, Congress enacted the Child Online Protection Act and established the Commission on Online Child Protection (COPA) to study methods to help reduce access by minors to certain sexually explicit material, defined in the statute as harmful to minors. Congress directed the Commission to evaluate the accessibility, cost, and…

The appendices for the Commission on Child Online Protection (COPA) Report to Congress, October 20, 2000, include the following: Commission overview, which includes scope and timeline, original statute, amended statute, technologies and methods, and biographies of the commissioners; Commission finances; Commission meetings for the year 2000;…

Discusses steps taken by the Idaho Library Association to defeat an antigay ballot initiative by means of a coordinated, statewide public relations campaign. The ballot, known as Proposition One, would have violated First Amendment rights and caused library materials to be censored to determine whether they addressed homosexuality. (Author/JKP)

This book discusses the key legal issues public schools face in using the World Wide Web, e-mail, and other computer technologies. Chapter 1 covers the foundations of school Internet law, including Supreme Court decisions, the legal standard of conduct, standards for technology literacy, and federal vs. state law. Chapter 2 discusses freedom of…

In the wake of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, discussions have raged both online and in the press about free speech, online pornography, and the protection of children. This paper discusses the legal and social science issues surrounding content regulation of the World Wide Web and the Internet as a whole, with an emphasis on the…

In October 2001, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act to strengthen the ability of the U.S. government to combat terrorism. Unfortunately, some sections of the Act strike at core values and practices of libraries and archives, especially in the areas of record keeping, privacy, confidentiality, security, and access to the collections. This article…