Discusses "Mozert v. Hawkins County Public Schools" (Tennessee), a case involving a controversial reading textbook offending fundamentalist parents of six middle school children. The Court of Appeals reversed a district court ruling, holding that uniform use of the Holt textbook was not essential to the state's goals to teach reading.…

Discusses legal issues resulting from implementation of an advisory component in a comprehensive middle school program. Focuses on safety issues in team-building activities, confidentiality and reporting issues related to adult advisory roles, and First Amendment issues related to religion. Examines the teacher's legal role. Concludes that…

Discusses computer ethics and the use of computer networks. Topics addressed include computer hackers; software piracy; computer viruses and worms; intentional and unintentional abuse; intellectual property rights versus freedom of thought; the role of information in a democratic society; individual privacy; legislation; social attitudes; and the…

The case of an indigent library patron recovering a judgment against a public library is used as a backdrop for discussing patron behavior policies in the public library. Highlights include First Amendment rights, the public library as an expressive forum, government rules, policy lessons from the case, and acceptable policies. (AEF)

Twenty-eight years ago three students in Des Moines, Iowa who wore black armbands to protest the war in Vietnam were suspended from school. When the 1969 landmark Supreme Court case of "Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District" brought public school pupils under the First Amendment umbrella, many educators began to…

A study of reader response to newspaper articles in a defamatory context tested: (1) the judicial assumption that the macro-environment in which statements appear is important to a reader's distinguishing between fact and opinion; (2) the possibility that a byline may influence a reader's characterization of statements; and (3) the idea that…

This monograph acquaints advisers, administrators, and students with college press law as it now stands, based on court decisions concerning official student publications and underground newspapers. Chapters focus on the status of the First Amendment on the college campus with regard to student publications, the question of permissible control and…

Analyzes 240 First Amendment cases involving school administrator dismissals, focusing on each administrator's (alleged) behavior or situation leading to the court's decision. These cases disclose a substantial volume of behavior that is inexcusable, outrageous, self-destructive, and embarrassing. Many accounts illustrate the stress, ambiguities,…

It is argued that some church-related universities are both religious and academic communities, thus constituting protected exercises of religion. Attempts to coerce compliance with secular standards of nondiscrimination and academic freedom may violate the institution's rights to free exercise of religion. A Brigham Young University (Utah) policy…

It is proposed that the values and environment of a church-related law school differ from those of secular institutions because of the religious orientation of faculty and students, and fostering such an institution is religious freedom, now threatened by accreditation rules and current First Amendment jurisprudence. (Author/MSE)

Noting that the work of Jurgen Habermas has had an important influence on philosophy and the social sciences recently, this paper examines the implications of using Habermas's "ideal speech situation" as a criterion for deciding issues relating to the First Amendment. The paper first briefly reviews the distinctive features of critical…

A number of small, private, liberal arts colleges have abolished Greek systems on campus and vowed to quash student attempts to establish off-campus fraternities and sororities. Some argue that a ban on fraternities denies students their constitutional right to freedom of association. A nonbinding resolution recently passed in Congress may support…

Articles of The Bill of Rights, although comprising the fundamental principles of American society, are often opposed by many people on varying grounds. For example, many people support physical abuses by law enforcement officials, even though they might violate constitutional rights. The First Amendment, simple in original wording, has resulted…

Section B of the Media and Law section of the proceedings contains the following nine papers: "The Professional Person as Libel Plaintiff: Reexamination of the Public Figure Doctrine" (Harry W. Stonecipher and Don Sneed); "The Anti-Federalists and Taxation under the Free Press Clause of the First Amendment" (Brad Thompson);…

This section of the proceedings is comprised of 11 papers dealing with the relationship between media and the law. Papers include: "Equal before the Law: Three Media Myths of the American Legal System" (Henry Itkin); "The Role of Senator Albert Gore, Jr. in Satellite/Cable Legislation" (Michael B. Doyle); "The Law of…