The 20 years following the "New York Times v. Sullivan" Supreme Court decision have seen an accelerating erosion of the protection necessary for the press to perform its function. The erosion has occurred in part because of unfavorable decisions of the substantive law. But in a very large measure it has also been because of uncertain and…

Because asbestos exposure poses a serious health threat to school children, Congress enacted the Asbestos School Hazard Detection and Control Act in 1980, authorizing federal funds for local programs to locate and remove asbestos-containing materials. No funds have been made available as yet, however, and two-thirds of the affected schools have…

A study used a new attitude and behavioral scale for measuring the chilling effect--an undercurrent of fear with respect to publishing decisions--and to determine the impact, if any, of threatened or actual libel suits on community newspapers. The editors and/or publishers of all 167 newspapers in Kentucky with a circulation of less than 50,000…

The legal action brought by author J. D. Salinger against Random House Publishers to prevent certain letters--now the property of various university libraries--from being published in a biography illustrates how the long-standing accommodation between the Copyright Act and the First Amendment can occasionally break down. Although the biographer…

The proceedings of a 1985 House of Representatives hearing to amend Section 615 of the Education of the Handicapped Act are presented. The hearing focused on questions of paying for attorneys fees in special education due process decisions. Statements are presented by representatives of policy makers, parents, and professional associations…

These four papers were presented as background at a national symposium exploring the relationships among law, ethics, and technology as they relate to the individual's informational privacy. George B. Trubow's "The Development and Status of 'Informational Privacy' Law and Policy in the United States" discusses privacy as it relates to the…

The guide examines fundamental rights of mentally retarded and developmentally disabled persons. The monograph focuses on some of the central controversies of which consumers, professionals, planners, and advocates concerned with developmental disabilities should be aware. Problems of living and dying, resettlement and confinement, choice and…

The manual provides an overview of issues associated with policies and practices in behavior management techniques. Legal, ethical, and programmatic issues are addressed in the first chapter which reviews pertinent court cases and focuses on the implications of punishment for behavior change. Section 2 contains suggestions for developing,…

Discusses the fourth amendment (providing protection against "unreasonable" searches and seizures) and its application in educational administration. (PG)

Discusses questions concerning the tax status of scholarship and fellowship grants that continue to plague grantors, the grant recipients, and the United States Treasury. (Author/PG)

Discusses the academic freedom case of history professor Grant Cooper at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock. (PG)

Points out an emerging confluence of apparently unrelated forces that eventually may join in a serious threat to the practice of selective admissions. Focuses on several paragraphs in the recent Newman Report on graduate education; the ruling in DeFunis vs Odegaard, a case decided by the Washington State Supreme Court; and certain provisions of…

Discusses the effects of the recent United States Supreme Court case dealing with special criteria for admitting minority applicants to schools. (JF)

This study proposes a method for reporting findings that combines true positives and true negatives to measure total accuracy of predictions. A retrospective study of dangerous behavior among criminally insane offenders in Colorado confirmed the findings of Cocozza and Steadman (1974) regarding the predictive validity of the Legal Dangerousness…

An in-depth, exploratory analysis was conducted covering nine cases in which mediation was used as an alternative to the adversary system in arriving at divorce settlements. The analyses were based on audio recordings of mediation sessions and an intensive interview with each of the parties 3 to 12 months after the divorce. Four obstacles to…