Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has been labeled an "enemy of the press" for his judicial opinions restricting or inhibiting the press's right to protected opinion. However, examination of his record suggests that his rulings do not constitute such a threat to journalistic freedom as many have been led to believe. His opinions…

The new and immense task that awaits the judiciary of Canada is to decide what limitations, if any, ought to be imposed upon freedom of expression as protected in the new Canadian Constitution with an entrenched Charter of Rights. The area of civil libel law provides special problems related to free speech and press. One source of help for…

In a 1974 Yale Law School address, United States Supreme Court Justice Stewart stated that the institutional press, as far as the Constitution is concerned, is autonomous and may publish what it knows and may seek to learn what it can. He also noted that the Court had rejected the Constitutional claim of a journalist's privilege not to reveal a…

Specific reference is made in the Constitution of the United States to the need for protection of intellectual property rights. Later, Madison explored the problem again in the "Federalist" and in a letter to Thomas Jefferson. The present-day argument against protection of these individual rights is not directed against the government's…

A review of the related cases that have been adjudicated in the United States Circuit Courts of Appeals in the decade since "Ginsberg v. New York" and "Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District" reveals that the courts are not in agreement in delineating the First Amendment publication rights of high school students.…

The speaker examines a cross-section of the cases illustrating reasonable cause for dismissal of teachers. He considers teacher behavior both in and out of the schools in covering such topics as insubordination, cruelty, personal appearance, curriculum decisions, immoral behavior, political activity, illegal strikes, and criminal conduct. Court…

This paper examines several United States Supreme Court decisions to evaluate the Court's stance on an individual's right to privacy when that right conflicts with the press right to freedom of expression. Particular attention is paid to the Court's "Rosenbloom" and "Gertz" decisions. The paper concludes that the Supreme Court is trying to…

The 11th Amendment, ratified in 1798, has proved itself a great source of discussion, even confusion, among many courts in this country. Historical background on the development of the 11th Amendment and its interpretations in different cases sets the context for the rest of this paper, the theme of which involves state immunity from federal…

The Reagan Administration believes in equal employment opportunity, which requires that every individual receive an equal opportunity for employment on strength of individual merit. Any compromise, such as racially preferential hirings, promotions, or terminations, whether from benign or pernicious motives, cannot be fairly described as…

Most school districts have cautiously avoided situations in which they may violate the legal principle of church-state separation. This paper describes a few cases in which public schools found ways to legally include Christian activities for Christian students. The passage of the United States Equal Access Act in 1984 allowed religious clubs…

The 17 essays included in this book are designed to provide educators and other interested readers with contemporary perspectives on a broad range of themes and topics concerning the U.S. Constitution. The authors are a distinguished group of historians, political scientists, legal scholars, and jurists. The essays include: "The Achievement…

The history of the 11th amendment to the U.S. Constitution and its current application to schools and universities are examined in this paper. The amendment, which seeks to protect the states by redefining judicial boundaries within the federal concept of government, is unclear and paradoxical, especially to claimants seeking federal relief from a…

Just as human rights belong equally to all human beings and the role of government is to secure those rights, education in regard to human rights belongs in the core of civic education and the role of that education is to develop within the student a reasoned commitment to human rights. The writers of human rights documents throughout history have…

The press and public should have access to pretrial discovery documents in civil litigation when matters of public concern are at issue. Recently, the Supreme Court expanded the public's First Amendment right of access to criminal proceedings, and based on that, some lower courts have granted access to civil trials. In its decisions establishing…

There has been a renaissance of scholarship during the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. Continued implementation of the Constitution requires that its text, its structure, and its principles be widely known and respectfully understood. U.S. citizens need to respect the Constitution as it was understood by those who framed it. Underlying the…