Argues that all bills that would limit the power of the federal courts to consider or grant remedies in cases affecting the fundamental rights of citizens under the Constitution should be held violative of the Constitution. (Author/AM)

Observes that the bulk of the federal judiciary's business is handled by lower federal courts. Discusses the evolving structure and business of the federal judiciary, district courts, circuit courts of appeal, declining federal supervisory capacity due to rising case loads, and future problems likely to be faced by the federal judiciary. (DSK)

A study examined the quantity and quality of libel decisions of the Warren and Burger Supreme Courts to determine how changes in libel law came about, how individual justices voted on libel compared to other issues of freedom of expression, and how permanent constitutional libel rules will be as the more conservative Rehnquist Supreme Court takes…

This paper considers how the Supreme Court used an idealized history of the infamous Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 to help justify its decision in "New York Times v. Sullivan" in 1963. The first section of the paper discusses the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, the second section discusses the Court's use of history in the "New…

Reviews the Supreme Court decisions on issues of interest to school districts. Also analyzes cases relevant to public schools that the Court declined to review. Summarizes a number of cases that the Court will hear in its term beginning October 1993 and that may have a major impact on school districts. An appendix lists the cases cited. (MLF)

Judicial activism raises the question whether the people, through their elected representatives, should make decisions about social policy issues or whether these decisions will be made by appointed members of the federal judiciary. Through a series of judicial decisions, many basic social problems have become nationalized. Yet the U.S.…

In this commencement address given by the Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, a brief review of the Younger vs. Harris case is given. In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that federal courts could not issue injunctions against state criminal proceedings on the ground that such prosecutions would result…

The author uses the experience of the Ferguson (St. Louis County, Missouri) school district to raise questions about the implications of an apparently successful attempt to eliminate the distinction between "de facto" and "de jure" desegregation. Growing out of litigation begun in 1972, the U.S. District Court in 1975 ordered…

Asserts that (1) the judicial branch of the federal government should involve itself less in the lives of the citizenry except in the area of equal rights for disadvantaged minorities; and (2) to accurately judge effects of alleged discrimination, one must know who is the victim and to what class he belongs. (Author/GC)

Examines recent lower court rulings on students' First Amendment rights. The current disputes center on (1) requiring the flag salute; (2) banning symbols; (3) removing books from the curriculum; and (4) preventing the distribution of publications. Projects the Supreme Court's position should the issue again reach that level. (MLF)

Provides a brief history of the Supreme Court's pivotal decisions on public school desegregation. Reviews the Court's decisions in "Board of Education v. Dowell" and "Freeman v. Pitts." Provides an analysis of "Freeman" and its effect on public school desegregation law. (68 footnotes) (MLF)

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…

Chapter 1 of a book on school law, this article analyzes the role of the U.S. Supreme Court, and contends that there has been a judicial takeover of functions that had been delegated by the Constitution to the states and to the people. Specifically, the author argues that much of the Supreme Court's expansion of its powers rests on the selective…

In "United States v.Lopez," a highly fractured United States Supreme Court, in a five-to-four ruling that generated six different opinions, affirmed that Congress had exceeded its authority in adopting the Gun-Free School Zones Act. Provides an in-depth examination of the Court's ruling and concludes with an analysis of the legal issues…

Examines key legal tensions flowing from the return of organized student-sponsored prayer to public schools. Claims that political "conservatism" has subordinated individual liberty to the unwarranted power of the federal government. (19 references) (MLF)