This article summarizes the applicable judicial analysis for cases in which special education personnel claim that their employing district retaliated against them for advocacy on behalf of students with disabilities. Providing examples of recent relevant court decisions, it traces the applicable essential elements and likely outcomes for such…

As the political arena becomes increasingly polarized, the legal arena is playing a more important role in the creation of education policy in the United States. One critical stage in the legal process for such efforts is at briefing where "amici curiae," or friends-of-the-court, may introduce additional arguments for the court to…

Different from more traditional policy-making avenues, the courts provide an antipolitical arena that does not require broad agreement from various constituents for policy enactment. Seeking to guide court decisions on these policy issues, individuals and organizations have filed "amicus" briefs that increasingly include social science…

Children's right to education is key to unlocking global human and economic development. The right is protected by multiple human rights norms and treaties, but inadequate state spending and discrimination prevent millions from going to school, while keeping others trapped in substandard schools without textbooks, adequately trained teachers,…

John Tinker and Mary Beth Tinker are back in a classroom in their hometown, once again wearing black armbands and drawing attention to a war. Now in their 50s, the siblings are living symbols of constitutional rights for secondary school students. In 1965, they and a handful of others were suspended for wearing black armbands to their public…

Discusses a brief historical overview of constitutional law as it applies to children, delineated in the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Emphasizes the need for school psychologists and educators to have an understanding of children's developing legal rights. Specific court cases are cited. (Author/JAC)