Analyzes the results of recent court cases concerning the constitutionality of mandatory student fees and discusses their implications for student affairs practice. To date, courts have ruled mandatory student activity fees permissible when they do not unduly infringe on students' constitutional rights. Offers eight principles for designing…

Asserts that law-related education programs, although more prominent at the secondary level than in higher education, have been successful in educating students about the role of law in society. Describes the use of mock trial competition as an instructional strategy in political science courses. (CFR)

Argues that a complete and accurate understanding of constitutional history and constitutional law requires the study of state constitutions. Maintains that state constitutions contain a coherent political theory that is, in important respects, at variance with the concept of federalism. (CFR)

Examines interpreting the application of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Title VII to religious institutions in light of the two religious clauses in the First Amendment, one protecting free exercise of religion, and the other prohibiting an establishment of religion. (103 footnotes) (MLF)

A federal judge has ordered the University of New Hampshire to end a professor's suspension, after ruling that his classroom comments did not amount to sexual harassment. The university had claimed the teacher violated institutional sexual-harassment policy by creating a classroom environment hostile to women. (MSE)

Examines the National Collegiate Athletic Association's drug testing program of student-athletes and relevant legal decisions. Concludes that each individual urinalysis search, not based on suspicion, is a violation of the student-athlete's privacy and is an unreasonable search in violation of the Fourth Amendment. (100 references) (MLF)

An alternative interpretation of the First Amendment guarantee of free speech suggests that universities may prohibit and punish direct verbal assaults on specific individuals if the speaker intends to do harm and if a reasonable person would recognize the potential for serious interference with the victim's educational rights. (MSE)

There is widespread concern that higher education is being compromised by being turned into a "commodity" to be "consumed". This article represents an initial attempt to explore the trends in both the UK and US, and considers how the law has responded to them. It argues, however, that there is an important distinction to be…

Because affirmative-action programs require governmental entities to act in a race-conscious and/or gender-conscious manner, public employers' affirmative-action programs may be challenged under both Title VII and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This document describes the standards of review by which…

The fall 1990 issue includes essays that recapture some of the presentations and thinking of the 1990 American Bar Association annual conference on higher education, entitled "American Citizenship and the Constitution." The idea of community was a recurring theme of the conference, and is the focus of three essays included in the Fall…

The applicability of Fourteenth Amendment procedural due process to private colleges and universities is discussed. After considering state action in private higher education, cases from 11 federal judicial circuits are reviewed to show how courts have applied the various theories of state action. An emerging theory of state action that is…

The Regents of the University of California present the following argument with regard to their medical school admissions policy at the Davis campus: The central issue presented by this case is whether the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution forbids a state professional school to take account of race in admissions to remedy the…

Discusses five Supreme Court decisions that relate to the First Amendment and freedom of the press. Includes small group decision-making exercises and discussion questions focusing on these interpretations for use in a college speech communication class. (MH)

The memorandum opinion and order in the Chess vs. Widmar case is presented in which 11 students at the University of Missouri-Kansas City allege that university officials refused to allow the students (part of a religious group called Cornerstone) to conduct their regular religious services in university-owned buildings. The students contended…

The issue of student rights and the law is presented in this essay and bibliography. Included are discussion of student activism and the courts, law and morality, the new era of student activism, legal, institutional, and moral rights, and institutional administration and the law. Also considered are constitutional questions raised by student…