Discusses United States Supreme Court's recent decisions in "Board of Education v. Dowell" and "Freeman v. Pitts." Decisions clarify powers of a federal district court to end court-imposed desegregation over all or part of school operation and will be used increasingly in the future to accomplish the Court's stated goal of the…

By law and example, school boards must govern within scope of Bill of Rights. Cites West Virginia State Board of Education v Barnette, in which Supreme Court in 1943 upheld two Jehovah's Witness children's right to refuse to participate in daily flag salute ceremony. Urges schools to teach students principles of democracy and also of individual…

Outlines the facts of the Supreme Court 5-4 decision in "Lee" that graduation prayers violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Summarizes opinions of Justices Kennedy, Scalia, Souter, and Blackmun. Discusses some of the legal, educational, and policy implications of the conflicting opinions. (33 footnotes) (MLF)

A New Jersey school board enacted a policy to broaden students' understanding of their multicultural community's religious heritage. The federal district court upheld the Cherry Hill Township's approach to recognizing religious diversity in public schools. Reviews the policy and the court decision, and explores implications for public schools. (90…

The Supreme Court has decided to address the facts in "Lee v. Weisman" involving the validity of graduation prayer. Reviews the opinions of the current justices regarding the role of the tripartite establishment clause "Lemon" test and concludes with a projection of the court's resolution of the "Lee" case. (73…

The Supreme Court has agreed to review "Zobrest," regarding sending a state-paid sign language interpreter into a Catholic high school to assist a deaf student. Examines the facts and procedural history of the "Zobrest" case, the analysis applied by the Ninth Circuit, and a few of the many difficulties facing the Court. (MLF)

The Supreme Court, in an upcoming case "Lee v. Weisman," will rule on whether prayer may be offered out loud at a public school graduation program. Argues that past court decisions have interpreted the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment over the Free Speech Clause of that same amendment. (57 references) (MLF)

The Supreme Court's decision in "Reno," striking down major portions of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, pits the need to protect children from inappropriate material against the need to maintain free Internet access by adults. Highlights major points in the holding and discusses the meaning of "Reno" for educators. (MLF)

Examines message T-Shirts as a medium for student expression and the ability of public schools to regulate those messages. Predicts that as violence and insolence increase in schools, courts will probably continue to defer to school authorities and let them handle their own problems. (77 footnotes). (MLF)

The current trend in equal-protection law is to reject the use of race-based, numerical formulas. However, in "Wessmann," a chief federal district judge in Massachusetts allowed race-based set-asides in the admission policy at Boston's three examination high schools. This decision, which is on appeal, has implications for school…

In "Hazelwood" the U.S. Supreme Court said public school officials can censor school-sponsored expression for legitimate educational purposes. A content-analysis case study of student-written newspaper editorials found that more than three times as many editorials of criticism were published prior to the Court's decision. Argues that…

When Congress adopted the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1789, it left open many questions that would arise concerning church-state relations. It became clear early in the history of the country that the Supreme Court would have a great impact on how the First Amendment would be upheld and interpreted. This book examines how Congress…

The author is executive director of National Neighbors, a nationwide federation of interracial neighborhoods working to strengthen and encourage successful integrated communities, and to keep integrated schools integrated so that integrated neighborhoods can stay that way. (Author/JM)

Summarizes the Indianapolis Public Schools desegregation case, offers an interpretation of its relative significance in the picture of metropolitan schools desegregation, and provides the text of Federal Judge S. Hugh Dillin's ruling, delivered on July 20, 1973. (JM)

Although the Supreme Court has answered the important questions concerning the constitutional requirements for searches of students by school officials in the public schools, many issues remain unresolved. School officials are advised to proceed with caution, particularly with regard to strip searches, mass searches, and dogs to sniff students…