The Law section of the Proceedings contains the following 10 papers: "The Driver's Privacy Protection Act of 1994: Does Congress Have the Constitutional Authority to Override State FOI Laws by Regulating Access to State Driver's Licenses?" (Joey Senat); "The Truth Hurts: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress as a Cause of…

Do school dress codes written with the specific purpose of limiting individual dress preferences, including dress associated with gangs, infringe on speech freedoms granted by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution? Although the Supreme Court has extended its protection of political speech to nonverbal acts of communication, it has…

The Law section of the Proceedings contains the following 13 papers: "Link Law: The Evolving Law of Internet Hyperlinks" (Mark Sableman); "Bits, Bytes and the Right to Know: How the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Holds the Key to Public Access to a Wealth of Useful Government Databases" (Martin E. Halstuk);…

This paper reviews First Amendment federal court cases pertaining to religion in schools, suggesting that the findings reveal a judiciary uncertain of where to strike a balance between the interests of the majority and the rights of the minority. The first area discussed is public aid to private schools. The cases covered in this discussion…

This study surveyed principals, sponsors, advisers, and student editors concerning their knowledge of communication law in relation to freedom of the press under the First Amendment. Relevant court decisions were selected and the circumstances of ten composite cases were formulated; respondents were asked to indicate, for each case, how a judge…

This book discusses the key legal issues public schools face in using the World Wide Web, e-mail, and other computer technologies. Chapter 1 covers the foundations of school Internet law, including Supreme Court decisions, the legal standard of conduct, standards for technology literacy, and federal vs. state law. Chapter 2 discusses freedom of…

Focuses on recent First Amendment case law and proposed legislation that has shaped and will continue to influence judicial affairs. (KW)

In Smith vs. Regents of the University of California, the California Supreme Court established new constitutional limitations on use of mandatory student fees. This article examines the Court's restriction of use of funds for ideological or controversial extracurricular programs and concludes that the distinction between educational and political…

Traditional efforts to reform education have not succeeded because the education system has resisted major change. Achieving meaningful reform will require educational restructuring, and this restructuring will have to be based on competition, which is a basic fact of every other profession. For this reason, many states are moving to adopt…

The focus of this chapter is on the substantive constitutional protections of the public school employment relationship guaranteed by the First Amendment, particularly freedom of speech, and by the Fourteenth Amendment's right to privacy. Included are burden-of-proof standards required for establishing a prima facie case of denial of these…

Court litigation and decisions concerning the conflict between first amendment rights of free speech for United States citizens and the rights of controversial international figures, invited by college faculty to speak on campus, are discussed and compared. (MSE)

Discussion of the Rosenberger vs. Rector case, involving the ability of public universities to decide whether or not to fund religious speech, evaluates contemporary jurisprudence concerning the establishment and free speech clauses and applies theories in these areas to funding of student religious speech on college campuses. It also outlines…

This book focuses on book-banning in public schools and libraries, a practice that prohibits or restricts access to books already published, distributed, and even approved by school or library boards. The major grounds for censorship are sex, profanity, and religion, but they are often intertwined to cover a broad range of "unacceptable"…

The United States Supreme Court case, Meese v. Keene, in which the justices narrowly defined the meaning of the term "political propaganda," failed to address adequately the complexities of the issue. In this case it is necessary to bring together divergent views about communications in the analysis of the legal problem, including…

The Pope called upon Roman Catholic institutions of higher learning to "make known their Catholic identity" by integrating Catholic teaching and discipline in all university activities. Religious institutions find themselves facing precarious legal challenges, where the constitutionality of government appropriations could be challenged,…