Students' rights

Foreword

Introduction

Right of schools to search students

Court's decision: allowing reasonable searches of students' property / Byron White

Supreme Courts ruling in New Jersey v. T.l.O., Supreme Court ruled that a school official had reasonable cause to search a student's purse to find evidence that she dealt marijuana

Dissenting opinion: student searches must be based on probable cause / John Paul Stevens

Supreme Court justice dissents from the majority decision in new jersey v. T.l.O. on the basis that school officials lacked probable cause to suspect the student had committed a crime

Ruling in New Jersey v. T.l.O. Helps protect students / Camilia Anne Czubaj

Educator and writer maintains that school officials are justified in searching the personal property of students because such searches help reduce drug use and school violence.

Students are losing their fourth amendment rights / Randall R. Beger

Professor asserts that the ruling in New Jersey vs. T.l.O. has led to a climate where students are under continual surveillance and lack virtually all rights to privacy or freedom from searches

Searching students is not the best way to reduce school violence / Dorianne

Children's rights lawyer argues that if schools want to reduce on-campus violence, they would have more success with educational programs and dress codes than with searches.

Limiting students' right to free expression

Case overview: Hazelwood school district v. Kuhlmeier (1988)

Court's decision: censorship of school newspapers is constitutional / Byron White

Hazelwood school district v. Kuhlmeier, the court ruled that removing articles from a student newspaper does not violate the student reporters' first amendment rights.

Dissenting opinion: schools do not have the right to censor student publications

/William Brennan

Supreme Court justice dissents from the ruling in Hazelwood school district vs. Kuhlmeier, charging that student speech cannot be censored simply because it addresses topics some people find sensitive

Hazelwood decision has lowered the quality of student journalism / Mark Goodman

Executive director of an organization that deals with student press law argues that because of the Hazelwood decision, censorship of school newspapers has increased and students are less able to learn journalistic skills

School newspapers are not equal to the real-world press / Kevin W. Saunders

Law professor asserts that high school newspapers are not equivalent to professional media and therefore are not entitled to the same first amendment protections

Student newspaper censorship has been a problem before and after Hazelwood / Jeremy Learning

Contributor to an organization that fights for free press and free speech rights contends that censorship of student newspapers is a long-running problem that some state legislatures are beginning to address

Permitting drug tests for student athletes

Case overview: Vernonia school district v. Acton (1995)

Court's decision: random drug tests of student athletes is constitutional / Antonin Scalia

Vernonia school district v. Acton, the Supreme Court declared that student athletes are entitled to less privacy than other students and thus cannot claim that random drug tests violate their fourth amendment rights

Dissenting opinion: drug testing of student athletes violates the fourth amendment / Sandra Day O'Connor

In a dissenting opinion in Vernonia school district v. Acton, a Supreme Court justice contends that random drug testing of student athletes is unconstitutional because such searches are unreasonable

Vernonia is a fair response to the it problem of drugs in schools / George Will

Syndicated columnist opines that random drug testing is justifiable when a school is experiencing a serious drug epidemic

Random drug tests violate students' right to privacy / Benjamin Dowling-Sendor

North Carolina lawyer argues that the Vernonia decision has led the courts to impose even stricter drug-testing policies

Schools should seek alternatives to random drug tests / Oscar g. Bukstein

Professor of psychiatry maintains that while random drug tests of student athletes may be constitutional, schools that want to reduce drug use should instead implement a broader treatment program

Pledge of Allegiance and the First Amendment

Case overview: Michael A. Newdow v. U.S. Congress et al. (2002)

Court's decision: the pledge of allegiance violates the first amendment / Alfred T. Goodwin

Michael A. Newdow vs. U.S. Congress et al., the ninth circuit court of appeals ruled that because the pledge of allegiance contains the phrase "under god," its recitation violates the establishment clause of the first amendment

Pledge of Allegiance disenfranchises atheist students / Frank R. Zindler

Editor of an atheist magazine argues that being forced to recite the pledge of allegiance is a form of religious brainwashing that marginalizes atheist students

Supreme Court should declare the pledge of allegiance constitutional / Cheryl K. Chumley

Internet columnist asserts that the pledge of allegiance is not a method of religious coercion and that the supreme court must declare it constitutional

Pledge of Allegiance is a form of political indoctrination / Bill Barnwell

Pastor maintains that the pledge of allegiance is offensive because it indoctrinates students into worshipping their government at the expense of their personal freedoms

Organizations to contact

For further research

Index.