The Eleventh Amendment is discussed regarding its history, interpretations, Congressional response, and court cases. Teacher litigation under the Fourteenth Amendment and under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 is also reviewed. (LBH)

Legal and practical considerations are discussed concerning whether school systems should participate in the nationwide class action suit against asbestos manufactureres or file suit on their own. Other topics discussed include grooming rules in sports, unnecessary litigation, and immunity from civil rights lawsuits for school officials. (TE)

This is the 23rd in a series of yearly updates of judicial decision summaries for case law related to elementary- and secondary-education issues. One can use previous and future editions to track decisions on appeal or to spot trends in case law. With few exceptions, the cases were selected from court decisions found in federal and regional…

The Supreme Court has ruled that certain professionals have immunity from civil rights lawsuits, but has not considered any cases involving social workers. A split view regarding the extent of social workers' immunity in investigating child abuse cases has appeared in two courts of appeals. Discusses immunity, the case in these two circuits, and…

Before Washington, D.C. became the permanent home of the United States Supreme Court, first New York and then Philadelphia hosted its meetings. From 1791 to 1801 the Court met in Philadelphia. This paper reviews the highlights of the Court's cases during this formative decade. Among the most important developments in the Court's jurisprudence at…

A series of recent decisions, largely in federal courts since 1972, are examined for inferences that may encourage institutions to set forth more clearly the conditions that precede dismissal on academic or misbehavior grounds. Guidelines are suggested for administrative procedure and faculty practices such as grading. (JT)

A comment on two court cases gives an overview of the eleventh-amendment analysis, used by some federal courts in suits against state colleges and universities, that argues that the institutions are alter-egos of the state and independent to face suit in federal court. (MSE)

Argues against government intervention in college and university governance to solve campus problems. Cites legal and other sources to support the position that the institutions, "in the preservation of its tradition and function, must be mater in its own household. (Author/WM)

Examines Supreme Court decisions in two cases (Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan, United States v. Virginia), addressing the constitutionality of single-sex public colleges. Describes a tool for evaluating equality (the "capability approach") that fills out and lends clarity to underdeveloped aspects of the Court's inquiry. The…

This paper analyzes "Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) vs. University of Detroit," the first federal circuit court case concerning a college faculty member refusing to pay union dues because of religious beliefs conflicting with purposes for which dues are used. Suggestions for union and institutional response in such…

Uses the relatively new science of fuzzy logic to review lower court and appellate court decisions from the last four decades regarding free expression in student publications. Finds pronounced effects, showing that fuzzy sets inherently favor administrators, while students show a strikingly high win/loss ratio when courts avoid fuzzy logic. (SR)

Note that judgments about the relationship of test items to actual job duties have generally been made as a single comparison, proposes a model for analyzing the accuracy of translations for each step of the process of test development for use in personnel administration, and suggests scaling procedures appropriate for the various judgments. (JM)

Principals and other educators fear litigation over defamation. Defamation means an injury to character or reputation by false, malicious statements, whether by printed words (libel) or by spoken words (slander). To constitute defamation, the words must be actionable, defamatory, refer to the plaintiff, and be communicated to others. If the words…

Examines federal court and Supreme Court decisions concerning news piracy, record piracy, and tape piracy; concludes that, on the basis of historical analysis, news piracy will be punished. (GW)

A Supreme Court ruling found that federal programs or policies based on race must meet a legal test of strict scrutiny, requiring the program to demonstrate a compelling government interest and be narrowly tailored. Legal experts suggest that few federal affirmative action programs currently meet the standard. (MSE)