Given state law barriers to recovery for the negligence of public officials, redress is often sought in federal courts. Discusses the concept of "constitutional tort" and analyzes the various components and the elements that must be satisfied before recovery is allowed. (MLF)

Section 1983 opened the federal courts to private citizens by creating a cause of action for invasion of rights protected by federal law. Liability can only be established through proof that injury was occasioned by the implementation of municipal "policy or custom." Examines the evolution of this court doctrine. (MLF)

The 1977 Supreme Court decision in "Milliken v. Bradley," involving the Detroit public schools and the state of Michigan, held that federal courts possess the authority not only to order the implementation of educational program components as part of a desegregation remedy, but also to assess a portion of the cost of such components…

Parents generally expect public school districts to provide for their children's care and safety while they are at school. Although in the first half of the twentieth century common law tended to make school officials immune from suit, more recently public school districts, school employees, officers, and elected boards have been successfully sued…

This monograph, the fifth in a series, contains summaries and discussion of selected state and federal court decisions handed down during the Supreme Court's 1981-82 term. The cases were selected on the basis of their relevance to contemporary problems in public school settings, their definitiveness as articulations of existing law, and their…

Section 1983 of the 1871 Civil Rights Act includes the option of money damages for violations of the Constitution and federal laws. The focus of this paper is on the scope and limit of school district liability. Questions decisions where boards may have avoided liability by intentional ignorance of inaction in the face of supervisory incompetence.…

Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 was designed as a flexible and broadly scoped statute to restrict a wide variety of actions of state officials. During the past 15 years the number of court cases in which provisions of the 1871 act have been applied to school-related issues has increased geometrically. In 1961 the provisions of the act…

This thirty-first edition of the "Yearbook" is a comprehensive reference to recent state appellate and federal court decisions affecting the operation and governance of public elementary and secondary schools in the United States. This edition includes all reported cases relevant to public schools decided during the 1980 calendar year as well as…

Decisions made by federal and state courts during 1983 concerning education are reported in this compilation of eight independently authored chapters. The first chapter focuses on governance, examining the organizational and authority relationships among state and local boards of education and the general public. The chapter on employees considers…

This comprehensive reference reviews court decisions affecting the operation, management, and governance of public schools. This edition analyzes all public school cases decided during the 1982 calendar years and reported in West's Regional, Federal, and Supreme Court Resports, through the December 1982 advance sheets. Included as well are 1981…