Discusses the Equal Rights Amendment issue within the American Library Association (ALA) and state library associations, noting key actions regarding the amendment taken by ALA and outlining the political activities of several women librarians in Missouri, Florida, North Carolina, and Illinois. (EJS)

The Ontario and British Columbia courts of appeal have held that the restriction of marriage to heterosexuals is unconstitutional. Opposing views in same-sex marriage litigation arise from different definitions of "marriage." Proposed federal legislation would legalize same-sex marriage but not resolve the larger, underlying issue of how…

This paper discusses a Lawsuit filed against Dow Jones Newspaper Fund and the legal settlement between the defendant and the plaintiff. The fund, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Dow Jones & Company had been operating more than 20 programs for minority high-school students to pursue careers in newspaper journalism. The organization…

This pamphlet uses the Articles of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a framework within which to describe legal safeguards of individual rights in the United Kingdom. Under each article of the Declaration, a historical perspective of the tradition of civil liberties is provided, as are descriptions of recent trends and…

Both state supreme courts and the U.S. Supreme Court won't back down from giving kids the due process protections once reserved for adults. Specific cases are discussed. (RM)

The problems the mentally retarded defendant confronts in the legal system are discussed, and a model to correct some of the problems is proposed. It is emphasized that the police, lawyers, and judges are often ill-informed about the mentally retarded. (Author/SW)

In "Kadrmas v. Dickinson," suit was brought challenging the constitutionality of a North Dakota statute allowing certain public school districts to charge user fees for transporting students. In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not require states to offer such services. The decision seriously erodes equal…

The Brown v. Board of Education (1954, 1955) decision of the 1950s had no appreciable impact on ongoing Mexican American desegregation litigation during the 1st decade of its implementation. In the long run, however, it led to a shift in the community's litigation strategy for achieving equality of opportunity in the United States and for…

Few people in the United States are aware of the central role that Mexican Americans have played in some of the most important legal struggles regarding school desegregation. The most significant such case is Mendez v. Westminster (1946) , a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of more than 5,000 Mexican American students in Orange County,…

This article describes federal and state laws that affect the opportunity of people with low vision to drive and to obtain driver's licenses. Discrimination against individuals with low vision is discussed in the context of equal protection and the Americans with Disabilities Act. A review of relevant case law and implications for drivers with low…

In "Fumarolo v. Chicago Board of Education," the Illinois Supreme Court invalidated the Chicago School Reform Act because it violated the one-person, one-vote principle when several school administrators were summarily deprived of tenure by parent-dominated school councils. However, due process concerns for the deposed administrators…

America evolved out of the principles of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, suggesting that individuals could govern themselves and that people were "endowed" with "unalienable rights" such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. To secure these principles, Americans would continue to work on forming a more perfect Union, by…

The second round of litigation in the case of Debra P. v. Turlington has required the Federal courts to consider the question whether the Florida statute which requires public high school graduates to demonstrate the "ability to successfully apply basic skills to every day life situations" as measured by the State Student Assessment…

This report discusses UNESCO sponsored meetings concerned with the protection of journalists around the world. The first section of the report examines the efforts of UNESCO, including two studies commissioned by the International Organization of Journalists (IOJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), which recommended that…

Parents gained more clout in the "Robinson v. Pinderhughes" court ruling. Baltimore schools' lack of compliance with the Education for All Handicapped Children Act illustrates that, if not offered by a state, educators should encourage legislators to enact a remedy enforcing decisions about disabled students' placement. (CJH)