As in other educational realms, the courts are asserting more and more authority over interscholastic athletics. A summary of pertinent cases and decisions. (Editors)

Reviews "Bethel School District vs. Fraser," a case in which a student was suspended for presenting an "indecent" speech to his school's student body. Lower courts found the student's First Amendment rights violated, but the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to hear the case suggests these rights may be reexamined. (PGD)

Discusses a case in which the courts upheld the school district's policies concerning the content of student publications. Concludes that perhaps the time has come that the schools can enforce rules that not only serve the legitimate interests of the schools, but also provide adequate protection for student rights. (Author/IRT)

When the rhetoric is removed, it is clear that the students' lawyers were asserting that it is unconstitutional for school board members to resort to their own political, social, and moral views when making decisions affecting the curriculum. The courts did not agree. (Author/IRT)

Describes an alternative high school program that used community volunteers to teach some classes and what happened when members of the educational community opposed the use of those uncertified volunteers. (IRT)

Discusses New York case involving harassment of a female high school junior by three other girls culminating in physical attack that results in serious brain injuries to the girl. Girl's parents sued school officials for negligence. Jury finds that the vice-principal acted in reckless disregard for girl's safety and awards parents $11.2 million…

A court case involving a student classified as a child with a disability and her battle to be named valedictorian of her graduating class. Questions the district's determination that this gifted student needed special education and the grade inflation indicated by undue competition for the extra thousandth of a point GPA. (Contains 11 references.)…

Analyzes federal district court case involving legal action against certain companies that produced violent video games, a violent motion picture, or maintained pornographic websites. Parents of three Kentucky high school students shot and killed by another student who regularly viewed the aforementioned material brought suit. The court dismissed…

Since the Supreme Court's 1992 "Lee v. Weisman" decision, holding that the First Amendment's establishment clause precluded school-sponsored graduation prayers, school officials have struggled to avoid lawsuits while satisfying community preferences. Efforts to circumvent this decision have resulted in "noncoercive"…

Prayer at school-sponsored events became significant issue in many communities, in wake of Supreme Court's decision in "Lee v. Weisman.""Phi Delta Kappan" survey was conducted to discover how school districts handled graduation prayer. Of 1,491 responding districts, 46% included some form of prayer at formal commencement…

Discusses an unsuccessful lawsuit brought by Margaret Boring, an acclaimed high school drama teacher in Buncombe County, North Carolina. She was transferred to a middle school for allegedly violating the school's "controversial materials" policy after students performed an expurgated version of Lee Blessing's "Independence."…

In a lawsuit involving classroom and literary racial epithets, the Ninth Circuit Court remanded the racial-harassment claim, not the book-removal claim. The ultimate outcome awaits trial; the court's Solomonic decision needs further testing. Meanwhile, the "N" word is a no-no for teachers and students, but not necessarily for books. (MLH)

Discusses a complicated appellate-court case upholding a Milwaukee high-school junior's expulsion for advocating computer hacking in a student newspaper. The decision is noteworthy for signaling a growing technology-related litigation trend, conflating the advocacy/incitement issue, and showing courts' decreasing tolerance for perceived threats to…

In a protracted case involving a varsity basketball coach's refusal to select a problem parent's son, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the suit was frivolous and ordered the parent to pay $2,500 in court fees. This case illustrates the intersection of three American excesses--litigiousness, athletics, and divorce. (MLH)

In a California case involving a 16-year-old girl's possession of three knives on school grounds, both a trial and Ninth Circuit court affirmed the school vice-principal's right to search and discover these weapons while enforcing a no-smoking policy. The court lectured parents and lawyers for wasting the court's time--especially after a juvenile…