Removal of school library books is again an issue in the courts. In a 1993 Kansas City case involving the superintendent's removal of "Annie on My Mind" from several school libraries, the federal court found that school officials' motivation violated the First Amendment. Administrators must resist the temptation to quell controversy by…

Reviews contemporary court cases to show that free exercise claims are religious and therefore unenforceable under the Establishment Clause's "Lemon" test prohibiting religious activities in public schools. Discuses inadequacies in judicial perception involving compelling interest, a pattern of anti-theistic decisions, and lesser…

Supreme Court has delineated three-step test to First Amendment cases brought by public employees, including tenured and nontenured teachers' academic freedom cases. Is teacher's conduct "protected expression" that concerns public issue without unduly rocking boat? If so, is protected expression the motivation behind district's adverse…

Teaching ethical values is often challenged as an infringement on students' religious rights. This article addresses key questions concerning schools' legal responsibilities, courts' treatment of curriculum-related challenges based on alleged First Amendment violations, and courts' handling of teacher proselytizing or "opting out" cases.…

The competing constitutional interests of the student press and the rest of the community at a state university are examined, addressing issues of administrative censorship, mandatory student funding of newspapers, and open access and right of reply claims made against the student press. (MSE)

Describes a Circuit Court of Appeals case concerning a middle school principal who was unfairly fired after making a controversial speech on inadequate school finances. Describes a search and seizure case involving a student's possession of a gun and drugs on campus. Urges school boards to know the law before taking action. (MLH)

E-mail has created friction between school districts' proprietary needs and employees' privacy rights. This article examines e-mail law (constitutional, statutory, and common) and issues (employer monitoring, discover problems, admissibility, and attorney-client privilege) and provides policy guidelines. The 1996 Communications Decency Act,…

Although the law pertaining to tenure denial based on scholarship and teaching is well settled, legal issues governing faculty dismissal due to declining college enrollments are unsettled. This paper reviews tenure cases and explores tenure denial based on institutional need, anticipating development of a separate body of law. (72 references) (MLH)

The authors debate whether institutions of higher learning should impose regulations or speech codes to ban sexually harassive speech believed to foster gender-based discrimination. Masters insists that narrowly crafted controls are necessary to make colleges and universities inviting to all. Dagley argues that speech codes are improper because…

Summarizes a variety of religious issues before United States courts, including two religion-in-the-schools cases in New Jersey and Georgia and two New York cases involving public assistance of private schools. Discusses a wrongful death lawsuit in Connecticut concerning a teenage suicide. (MLH)

An analysis of first amendment guarantees focuses on the federal government's power to regulate experiments, arguing that they do not merit the stringent level of first amendment protection offered by strict scrutiny or related standards. (Author/MSE)

Since public schools serve children of diverse religious backgrounds, an upstate New York district tried to construct a policy where all students felt comfortable. Proponents had an uphill struggle, since many constituents found nonreligious Christmas assemblies and displays acceptable. This article highlights Williamsville's Free Exercise and…

A wrongful arrest/racial discrimination suit in Livingston, Texas ended unfavorably for the parents of an African-American fifth-grader complaining of unfair treatment by his teacher and classmates. The parents' complaint should have been remedied, short of their having to make a federal case of miscommunication. (MLH)

Although major cases involving religion in public schools were decided decades ago, disputes still arise over interpreting the First Amendment's establishment clause. Formally inviting clergy to pray at high school graduation ceremonies is clearly not permissible, but the law is unsettled regarding student-initiated and student-led nonsectarian…

According to this reference manual, the nation's courts offer public high school journalists the same constitutional protection for expression, free speech, and free press as adults. Part 1 traces the development of the First and Fourth Amendments and explains how these provisions apply to high school publications. Part 2 examines expression that…