Given that marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug among college students (A. M. Arria, Caldeira, Bugbee, Vincent, & O'Grady, 2013);(Palmer, McMahon, Moreggi, Rounsaville, & Ball, 2012);(Pinchevsky et al., 2012);(Primack et al., 2012), the increase in use and changing attitudes among Americans seems to mirror what Parker (2005)…

This essay discusses the contentious events leading to the decision by the University of California's Board of Regents to end affirmative action in admissions, hiring and contracting at the university in July 1995. This controversial decision provided momentum for California's passage of Proposition 209 the following year ending "racial…

This article examines how state-level policy discourse articulates a category of knowledge about immigrants in South Carolina that governs the everyday experiences of undocumented immigrants. In the analysis of proposed and enacted immigration legislation from 2005 to the present, we use a Foucauldian-inspired critical discourse analysis to better…

In this chapter, the author reviews the legal trajectory of language rights in public schooling in the United States and how language has been intertwined with other policy issues in court cases aimed at expanding access and equity for minority students: desegregation and school finance. Most of these cases originated in the Southwestern United…

The paper addresses (1) lawsuits stemming from fraternity hazing incidents and their potential liability; (2) defenses raised by fraternities, universities, and individual defendants and the success or failure of those defenses; and (3) responses to the hazing problem (state legislation and specific university and fraternity anti-hazing policies).…

This report contains findings of a nationwide study of youthful offenders tried in adult courts. Data were gathered from more than 3,000 counties for the year 1978. The report is organized into six chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the study and explains its methodology and the background of the problem (covered in more detail in Appendix A). Chapter…

The Golden Rule settlement's application in Illinois has not improved passing rates for Blacks on licensing tests relative to Whites. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) will apply the Golden Rule procedure in Illinois as long as the settlement remains in effect, but opposes it as precedent for other legislation. (SLD)

Suggests that freedom for parents to choose their children's education (a kind of educational voucher system) would improve the quality of education in states where equality of per-pupil expenditures has been mandated. (PKP)

A historical overview of the doctrine of equal pay for comparable worth is provided, related cases and legislation involving nurses and nonnurses are analyzed, and the implications of comparable worth for the nursing profession are discussed. (MSE)

In 1989, national attention was given to the unusual amount of cooperation and social connections among key policy actors in a major school-finance lawsuit in Kentucky. The case resulted in a judicial ruling declaring the entire state's school system unconstitutional. Accounts of this ruling attributed the unprecedented decision partly to…

Examines recent litigation based on disputes over science and technology, the burdens on the adjudicatory process, and proposed reforms. Argues that such proposals frequently misconceive the problems faced by the courts because they concentrate on the question of technical uncertainty rather than conceptual and policy issues at stake. (Author/SK)

Compares the impact of common law and reform rape legislation on prosecution based on analysis of 445 forcible and statutory rape cases in King County, Washington. Concludes that the impact of the statutory reform has been mainly symbolic and educative for society at large, rather than instrumental for law enforcement. (Author/MJL)

The U.S. Supreme Court decision that it is unconstitutional for public entities to ban specific kinds of "fighting words" without banning all such speech is discussed as it concerns institutions of higher education. It is viewed that the college campus, not the cities, is where this decision will be tested. (GLR)

Reviews reasons for, history of, and exceptions to open meeting (sunshine) acts and considers arguments by the Michigan Supreme Court in its ruling supporting a university's right to privacy in its presidential search. Concludes that in contrast to the court's argument, universities do not require the freedom to employ closed searches and state…