In Elkhart, Indiana, about half an hour east of South Bend, students at Concord High School have, for almost 50 years, participated in the school’s elaborate Christmas concert called their “Christmas Spectacular.” The students are a huge part of this production; in addition to showing off dance, choral, and instrumental talents, they also design and… Read More Indiana High School’s Nativity Scene Held Unconstitutional
Rodney Keister is a traveling Christian evangelical. He proselytizes by preaching and passing out literature on public sidewalks. He also speaks and prays with people passing by. (He appears to have an organization named Evangelism Mission.) Two years ago, he was proselytizing on the sidewalk near an intersection on the campus of the University of… Read More Court Upholds University of Alabama’s Permitting Scheme for On-Campus Speech
Medford, Oregon, about 30 miles from the California border, was the site in May 2012 of a planned teachers’ strike that ended up lasting 9 days. During the strike, some high school students even took to the streets as a show of support for their teachers. About a week before the strike—knowing that it was coming—the school… Read More Unconstitutional for Oregon School District to Ban Picketing & Signs During Teachers’ Strike
The Fruddens, who live in Reno, Nevada, sent their children to Roy Gomm Elementary School for grades K-6. Before the 2011-2012 school year, the school enacted a new uniform policy which required students to wear red or navy-blue polo t-shirts or sweatshirts, as well as khaki-colored “bottoms” such as pants, capris, shorts, or skirts. The… Read More Nevada School-Uniform Policy Held Unconstitutional
Jim Barrett is a social-studies teacher at Saddle Ridge Middle School in rural northwest Georgia. He wanted to attend a school-board meeting and express views critical of the board and the superintendent–specifically about a new grading policy that Damon Raines, the superintendent, had implemented without any action by the board. The school board has a… Read More Georgia School Board’s Pre-Meeting Screening Process Held Unconstitutional
So this case is just a procedural decision (standing), but it has the makings of a very interesting church-and-state case. A student at a Colorado high school organized a spring-break mission trip to Guatemala through a Christian organization that arranges such mission trips. Two teachers at the high school agreed to chaperone the trip. The student… Read More Colorado Student’s Parent Allowed to Challenge School Fundraising for Religious Mission Trip
Nick Lutz is a student at University of Central Florida. His ex-girlfriend (not a UCF student) sent him a handwritten apology letter after what one can presume was a bad breakup. So, Lutz ‘graded’ the handwritten letter like a school paper, calling out his ex’s spelling, grammar, and syntax errors. He included feedback on the her handwriting. He then posted her letter–with his… Read More University Suspends Student For Tweeting “Graded” Version of Ex’s Apology Letter
When Brenda Brinsdon was a high-school sophomore in a small town called McAllen near the southern tip of Texas, her Spanish teacher required her and her class to memorize and recite the Mexican pledge of allegiance during a week meant to make the students aware of the culture and heritage of Mexico. Brenda didn’t want… Read More Texas High School Allowed to Force Students to Recite Mexican Pledge of Allegiance for Teaching Purposes
There’s a group called the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, and they have a student chapter at Iowa State University. That chapter is an official student group like all the others. The student group made t-shirts that included their name, the Iowa State logo, and a marijuana leaf. The group had… Read More Iowa State Wrongly Discriminated Against Pro-Marijuana Student Group’s T-Shirts
First Amendment Blog 