In this article, we describe the multiple phases of a project that was constructed around the real case of a young Muslim student who wished to be exempted from coeducational physical education on religious grounds. When the school refused her initial request, she decided to take legal measures which ended up in the German Federal Administrative…

This article provides some strategies to alleviate the current tensions between personal responsibility and freedom of speech rights in the public school classroom. The article advocates the necessity of making sure students understand the points and implications of the first amendment by providing a mock trial unit concerning free speech rights.…

This article discusses the steady stream of litigation that emerged shortly after the Pledge of Allegiance was introduced in 1892. The constitutionality of requiring students to take part in its daily recitation in schools continues to be challenged. Parents who objected to the statute and the words "under God" in the pledge filed suit, alleging…

Background: By a 5-4 margin, the U.S. Supreme Court in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 declared that voluntary public school integration programs were unconstitutional. Citing the prospective harm that students and their families might incur from being denied admission to the high school of their choice, the…

A growing number of states and local schools across the country have adopted educator evaluation and accountability programs based on the use of student test scores and value-added models (VAM). A wide array of potential legal issues could arise from the implementation of these programs. This article uses legal analysis and social science evidence…

In June 2011 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that video games enjoy full free speech protections and that the regulation of violent game sales to minors is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court also referred to psychological research on violent video games as "unpersuasive" and noted that such research contains many methodological flaws.…

Tim Keller's article insightfully explores the flawed legal reasoning behind and potentially pernicious consequences of the Arizona Supreme Court's 2009 "Cain vs. Horne" ruling. He carefully examines the two fundamental flaws in the court's interpretative methodology: a failure to engage in a straightforward textual analysis of Arizona's…

This article discusses the regulation of teacher dress and its intersection with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, individual State Religious Garb Statutes, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

University administrators who have distance learning programs under their charge are on the horns of a dilemma. Given the growing litigiousness of copyright holders and the unsettled state of the law, it has become very difficult to establish failsafe administrative rules to guide faculty and student use of copyrighted materials. But the use of…

The First Amendment to the Constitution is a cornerstone of American democracy and students, like all members of the nation, are entitled to its protections. This study investigates the level of knowledge of students' First Amendment rights among secondary preservice teachers in various disciplines and their confidence in dealing with First…

Background/Context: In June 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to prohibit student assignment on the basis of race. In Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (hereafter referred to as PICS), the court deemed race-based strategies used to voluntarily desegregate school districts to be unconstitutional. Although the…

Social studies and history teachers should be free to expose students to controversial ideas and to teach critical thinking skills. But are they free? Do they have the constitutional right--call it academic freedom--to teach what they want and to discuss controversial issues in the classroom? The short answer is "no." In this article,…

In recent decades, the environment has become a focus of intense national interest. Increasingly, individuals, organizations, and governmental entities have turned to the courts for resolution of environmental debates. Litigants in the courts must, however, clear the initial hurdle of "standing" to have their cases heard. In this article,…

"Chief Justice Flubs Oath." "Justice Ginsburg Has Cancer Surgery." At the start of this year, those were the news headlines about the U.S. Supreme Court. But January 2009 also brought news about key education cases--one resolved and two others on the docket--of which school administrators should take particular note. The Supreme Court updates on…

This dissertation is a "public forum" legal case study on the federal court case "Madison v. Wolf" (2005) involving a conflict over the exercise of First Amendment speech rights on the Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) campus in Denver, Colorado. The dissertation involves the content analysis of the "Mason v.…