This study examined Chief Justice William Rehnquist's position on four recent Supreme Court cases related to parochaid as well as four other Supreme Court rulings dealing with economic or racial discrimination. The presentation of this study's research should present one perspective on how and why the Establishment Clause is being rewritten and…

In 1981 the federal courts decided hundreds of cases involving schools relating to civil rights statutes, the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Lawsuits concerning the handicapped involved such issues as the costs of determining what is equal opportunity in education, full-time…

As a means of providing additional search warrant protection for the news media and others engaged in public communications, the United States Congress adopted the "Privacy Protection Act of 1980." Legal and documentary research conducted over a period of two years has revealed a potential defect of the statute relating to the court…

This paper examines recent court decisions that indicate the extent of constitutional protection extended to opinionated statements made during broadcast commentaries. A brief overview of both the common law and constitutional privileges protecting the expression of opinion is also included in the paper. Specifically, the paper evaluates the…

This statement by Alfred C. Sikes, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Department of Commerce, discusses the NTIA's role in insuring information access for American business, and its role in developing public information policy, especially in light of the Bell…

"Affirmative action" is the term typically used to refer to two contrasting values: the value of equal opportunity and the value of equal results. The Justice Department under the Reagan Administration, however, draws a clear distinction between the two, and is committed to the "original" meaning of affirmative action. That is,…

The Reagan Administration's allegiance lies with the advocates of individual rights, not the protectors of group entitlements. This stand is based on the belief that defense of individual rights is the only appropriate basis for achieving a consensus on civil rights in a pluralistic society. Group preferences, which have been imposed by the…

If the United States Supreme Court is to exercise its historic role as guardian of the fundamental freedoms flowing from the speech and press clauses of the first amendment, it is imperative that those basic freedoms be placed in a preferred position. The preferred position doctrine provides adequate safeguards for both speech and press guarantees…

In order to test the opinion held by judicial and rhetorical scholars that distinct differences exist in rhetoric between majority and nonmajority Supreme Court decisions, an examination was made of 301 of Justice William O. Douglas' Supreme Court decisions. A hybrid methodology based on genre criticism and content analysis was used to examine the…

A recent court decision banned locally-owned newspaper/broadcasting combinations, or cross-ownership, and ordered divestiture to protect the public interest according to the First Amendment. However, these rulings promoting cross-ownership divestiture merit questioning for several reasons. First, evidence reveals that locally-owned television…

The individual's right to privacy has evolved into a concept that can affect photojournalists' newsgathering efforts in nearly every state in the nation. In addition to the many states that have recognized the right of privacy through common or statutory laws, the United States Supreme Court has dealt with the issue of an invasion of privacy by…

First Amendment students were unhappy to see Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart retire because his voting record demonstrated a favorable attitude toward freedom of speech and press. His replacement, Sandra Day O'Connor, was predicted to be a conservative or moderate who probably would vote consistently with Stewart in other areas, but her…

Twenty-five years ago, law suits seeking recovery against the individual resources of school board members were virtually unheard of. Now, personal judgments impacting upon the individual resources of board members are commonplace. The legal developments that have contributed to this rather sudden change of circumstances are explained in this…

Cable television, which cannot only clarify local signals to weak signal areas but can also bring in distant signals to areas which have been receiving few signals, has the capacity to present special television programs to customers for extra fees. The number of pay cable subscribers is growing and industry projections are that it will reach 20…

The argument advanced in this paper maintains that cable television differs from broadcasting, due to the local character of certain cable services; that the current obscenity standards, as articulated by the Supreme Court, mandate community definitions of obscenity; and that such Supreme Court decisions apply to cable television. Separate…