Fifty years ago, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." In exploring the story of the events behind the essay, and the Supreme Court case that resulted, "Walker v. Birmingham", 399 U.S. 307 (1967), educators will find a pedagogically powerful lens through which to review the seminal…

Prior to the United States Supreme Court's decision in "Brown v. Board of Education" (1954), educational finance litigation focused almost entirely on the equitable distribution of state educational financing, ending preferential disbursement of state funds. This ended in 1973, with the United States Supreme Court's decision in "San…

REVIEWED ARE VARIOUS LEGAL DECISIONS IN FEDERAL COURTS FOR TEACHER DESEGREGATION IN SOUTHERN SCHOOLS. THE COURTS HAVE STATED THEIR ORDERS FOR FACULTY DESEGREGATION IN RATHER GENERAL TERMS OR SET A STANDARD OF ONE OR TWO TEACHERS WHOSE RACE IS DIFFERENT FROM THE MAJORITY AT A GIVEN SCHOOL. THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE "SOUTHERN EDUCATION…

Litigation concerning Alabama's vestiges of a racially dual system of higher education has advanced to an appeal by the plaintiffs to the United States Supreme Court alleging that the decision by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals establishes a dual standard for black judges and white judges hearing desegregation cases. (MLF)

Two sex discrimination cases recently decided by federal courts in Alabama serve as a warning to small school districts that they must adopt more formalized employment procedures and make certain that the administrators implement the policies faithfully, procedurally and in spirit. (MLF)

Designed to assist the public in understanding the judicial system and judicial process in Alabama, this handbook (1) presents an overview of Alabama's courts and their jurisdictions, (2) identifies the officers of the courts and the contributions each makes to the judicial process, and (3) narrates in general terms the procedures most common to…

Describes two federal court cases concerning objections to public school textbooks. In "Smith v. Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County," parents attempted to eliminate objectionable content from textbooks through the Establishment Clause. In "Mozert v. Hawkins County Public Schools," parents wanted to remove children…

A federal appeals court ordered new trials on whether curriculum at Alabama's predominantly white colleges discriminates against blacks by lacking content on black thought and history, and whether much of the state land-grant program should be shifted from Auburn University to Alabama A&M, a historically black institution. (MSE)