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Disciplining Student Speech As A Threat After Newtown – The Right Choice?

The media coverage of the Sandy Hook school shooting is tapering down, but the lessons for school administrators in its wake are just beginning. One such lesson comes after a California school suspended a high school senior...more

Illinois Supreme Court to Tackle Public Employees' Right to Strike

Our previews of the new civil cases granted review at the end of the Illinois Supreme Court’s November term continue with The Board of Education of Peoria School District No. 150 v. The Peoria Federation of Support Staff,...more

Public Entity Deletes Comments From Facebook Page: The Right Choice?

A recent Illinois Attorney General opinion addressed an interesting question: Can a public entity delete comments by community members from its Facebook page? Although the public entity at issue was a municipality, the...more

Governor Brown Signs Bills Adding Protection for Religious Practices

Governor Brown recently signed two bills that are designed to combat religious discrimination. The Workplace Religious Freedom Act, AB 1964, amends the Government Code and will protect workers who wear turbans, hijabs, and...more

Legislative Update: New Laws Address Immunization Exemptions, Math Standards, Long-term English Learners, Organ and Tissue...

KMTG will be issuing a series of updates on new legislation signed by Governor Brown. All laws become effective January 1, 2013, unless otherwise stated. Immunization Exemption—AB 2109 - Current law requires a...more

Wheaton College v. Sebelius and Belmont Abbey College v. Sebelius

Brief Of Amici Curiae Center For Constitutional Jurisprudence, American Civil Rights Union, And CATO Institute In Support Of...

In January, when the Department of Health and Human Services announced that qualifying health insurance plans under Obamacare would have to cover contraceptives and "morning after" pills, many religious institutions — most...more

District Court Rules District Must Fund Student’s Stay-Put Placement through Appeal to Circuit Court, Though District’s IEP...

When a dispute arises between parents and a district concerning the special education identification, evaluation, placement, or free appropriate public education (FAPE) of a student, the IDEA provides that the student will...more

What Rights Do Home-Schooled Children Have to Participate in Interscholastic Sports?

An issue that often comes up for a county board of education is what rights do home-schooled children have to participate in interscholastic sports? In 2005, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled in Jones v. Marion...more

Second Circuit Upholds New York’s Ban Against the Use of “Aversive Interventions”

Bryant v. New York State Education Department, No. 10-4029-cv, — F.3d — (2d Cir. August 20, 2012). On August 20, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a divided 2-1 decision in Bryant v....more

Pridgen v. University of Calgary, 2012 ABCA 139

Two students found guilty of non-academic misconduct by university on account of Facebook postings derogatory towards instructor. On judicial review, university decision quashed by Alberta Court of Queen's Bench under...more

Minnesota Supreme Court Upholds University’s Right to Discipline Student Over Cadaver-Related Facebook Posts

In the continuing saga involving the intersection of social media, university policy, and student speech rights, a public university’s right to discipline students for social media activity has been further defined and...more

Ohio Court Enters Judgment in Favor of Student Who Wore T-Shirt That Reads "Jesus Is Not a Homophobe"

A federal district court in Ohio has entered judgement in the case of Couch v. Wayne County Local School District, in favor of a high school student who wore a t-shirt that said "Jesus Is Not a Homophobe." The case is another...more

Ninth Circuit Affirms Trial Court Decision In Waldorf Methods Case

In a case litigated by KMTG attorneys, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today issued an unpublished decision which upheld a judgment of the Eastern District Court in favor of Sacramento City Unified School District in the...more

School District’s Internet Filtering Software Violated First Amendment

In a recent decision, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Inc. v. Camdenton School District, a federal district court in the Western District of Missouri held that a school district violated the First...more

Suspension of 5th Grader in Crayon-Drawing Threat Upheld by Court

In Cuff v. Valley Central School District, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit voted 2-1 to uphold the six day suspension of a fifth grade student (“B.C.”) who, through a crayon drawing, expressed his “wish” for...more

Day of Silence FAQs

The Day of Silence, a national, youth-run effort to protest harassment and bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) students, will be observed on April 20 this year. Students participate by remaining...more

Supreme Court to Reconsider Affirmative Action in College Admissions

The United States Supreme Court decided this week to review the constitutionality of a race-conscious admissions policy at the University of Texas at Austin. The Court’s acceptance of this case, Fisher v. University...more

Religious School Not Liable For Terminating Teacher Who Lived Out Of Wedlock With Her Boyfriend

In Henry v. Red Hill Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tustin, California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District, plaintiff Sara Henry (Henry), a teacher at a school affiliated with the Lutheran church, was terminated when the...more

School District May Have Special Relationship with Their Students Requiring Protection of Students' Personal Security

In Doe v. Covington County School District, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals considered the circumstances in which a school district is required to protect students’ personal security based on a special relationship with...more

Lessons from Recent Court Rulings on Discipline of Students for Off-Campus, Online Speech

Following on the heels of two recent decisions by the Federal Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (which we addressed in a FR Alert in June), three additional federal courts issued opinions addressing the right of school...more

The History of Health Care

As a student in Advanced Legal Writing at Kaplan University, our project and papers dealt with real life issues. But, of course, the names and places are fiction. This particular paper was a preliminary short essay to what...more

Education Law News- June 2011

IN THIS ISSUE: Cyberbullying: Balancing the Rights of Student Victims and Bullies; Practical Implication of OCR ’s Title IX “Dear Colleague” Letter. Excerpt from "Cyberbullying: Balancing the Rights of Student Victims and...more

Morgan, et al., v. Swanson, et al.

En Banc Brief Of The CATO Institute As Amicus Curiae In Support Of Plaintiffs-Appellees Urging Affirmance Of The District Court’s...

Everyone knows that students have First Amendment rights, that the Constitution proverbially doesn't stop at the schoolhouse door. Yet students in the Plano Independent School District in Texas (against whose speech code...more

Barnes v. Zaccari, et al.,

Motion of Foundation For Individual Rights In Education, et al. For Leave To File Amici Curiae Brief In Support Of...

Few could imagine a more troubling free speech and due process case than that of Hayden Barnes. Barnes, a student at Valdosta State University in Georgia, peacefully protested the planned construction of a $30 million campus...more

INCORPORAÇÃO DO TEMPO DE SERVIÇO E ATIVIDADES EXERCIDAS SOB CONDIÇÕES DE RISCO PARA A...

Artigo sobre a aposentadoria especial dos policiais. Para a elaboração do Artigo, foram levadas em consideração várias decisões do STF e as normas que regem o assunto....more