Education Law

In Facebook Age, Do Photos Carry Expectation of Privacy? Placenta Opinion Raises the Issue

A judge’s ruling on behalf of a nursing student ousted from school for a distasteful Facebook photo raises questions about expectations of privacy. U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren of Kansas ruled on behalf of nursing student Doyle Byrnes, who posted a photo of herself posing with a human placenta on…

Jan 27, 2011 4:50 PM CST

2 Teens Criminally Charged for Allegedly Putting Girl’s Head on Nude Body in Fake Facebook Page

Two teenage girls in Florida apparently may have thought it would be an amusing prank when they allegedly pasted a high school classmate’s head atop a nude photo of an unidentified young woman and posted it on fake Facebook account under her name. But the girls, who are 15 and…

Jan 18, 2011 5:41 PM CST

1st Circuit Upholds Town’s Scarlet Letter—an Orange Sticker—for Unruly Gatherings

A federal appeals court has upheld a law authorizing police officers in Narragansett, R.I., to post bright orange stickers on homes that have hosted unruly gatherings. The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island had contended the Narragansett sticker statute could stigmatize landlords and tenants, violating their due process rights,…

Jan 13, 2011 12:00 PM CST

5th Circuit to Rehear Case of Grade School Students’ Confiscated Jesus Pencils

Do grade school students who want to distribute religious-themed pencils and pens have a First Amendment right to do so? The issue will be reconsidered by the en banc 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in New Orleans, How Appealing reports. In a June decision, amended in November (PDF),…

Dec 23, 2010 4:52 PM CST

EEOC Suit Claims Credit Checks in Kaplan Hiring Were Discriminatory

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims in a lawsuit that Kaplan Higher Education Corp. discriminated against black job applicants because it used credit checks in hiring. The suit claims checking credit histories had a disparate impact on the black applicants, according to stories by the New York Times and the…

Dec 22, 2010 1:19 PM CST

DOJ Sues School District for Allegedly Refusing to Accommodate Teacher’s Pilgrimage to Mecca

By refusing to consider a request by a Muslim school teacher for nearly three weeks of unpaid leave that would allow her to take a pilgrimage to Mecca, a suburban Chicago school district violated her civil rights, the U.S. Department of Justice contends. In a lawsuit filed in federal court…

Dec 15, 2010 2:00 AM CST

Miss. School Hopes to Derail Lesbian’s Lawsuit with Bikini Photo

A Mississippi school district is offering new evidence in an effort to win dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a lesbian teen who wore a tuxedo for her senior photo. Ceara Sturgis claims the Copiah County School District illegally discriminated against her on the basis of sex and sex stereotypes…

Dec 10, 2010 11:30 AM CST

Duquesne Settles 1 Law Faculty Suit, Still Faces 2 Others

One of three law faculty members who have been pursuing litigation against Duquesne University has settled on undisclosed terms. The exit of Alice Stewart, a clinical administrator who had sued for gender discrimination, retaliation and defamation, leaves two other faculty members saying they weren’t fairly considered for the law dean’s…

Dec 9, 2010 10:25 PM CST

Principal’s Pasting of Schoolgirls’ Heads on Women’s Nude Bodies Not Child Porn, Says Appeals Ct.

A Florida appeals court today reversed the child pornography conviction of a former elementary school principal serving a five-year prison term after finding that the face photos of 11- and 12-year-old students he apparently pasted over the heads of nude adult women in other photographs weren’t illegal under state law.…

Dec 3, 2010 8:44 PM CST

NYU Law Grad Gets 6 Months in Academic ‘Kooky ID-Theft Cyberwar’ Over Dead Sea Scrolls

A now-disbarred real estate lawyer and literature scholar has been sentenced to six months in jail for impersonating other academics in what the New York Post describes as a “kooky identity-theft cyberwar” over the Dead Sea Scrolls. Raphael Golb, 50, will also be forbidden to post about the scrolls under…

Nov 19, 2010 8:51 PM CST

California High Court Says Illegal Immigrants Qualify for In-State Tuition

In a first for the nation, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that illegal immigrants who graduate from state high schools can receive lower tuition at California’s public universities and colleges. Reporting on Monday’s ruling, the Los Angeles Times notes that California is one of 10 states that allow undocumented…

Nov 16, 2010 9:11 PM CST

Pink Cleats Lawsuit Is On Again After Coach Benches Teen

A Mississippi football player who was kicked off his high school team for wearing pink cleats may sue after all. A verbal settlement agreement called for Coy Sheppard to rejoin the team at Mendenhall High School and give up any damages, but the coach reneged, according to Sheppard’s lawyer, Oliver…

Nov 15, 2010 2:37 PM CST

Dad Sues Over N-Word References, ‘Outrageous Statements’ in Slavery Book

A Michigan man claims in a lawsuit that a slavery book used in his fifth-grade daughter’s classroom violated the state’s civil rights act. The suit filed by Jamey Petree on behalf of his daughter, Jala, says the book used the N-word and compared African-Americans’ skin color to “Satan’s thoughts,” the…

Nov 11, 2010 1:49 PM CST

School District Must Pay $81,000 Legal Bill re Teen’s Challenge of Same-Sex Prom Date Ban

Although a high school prom in Mississippi was canceled and Constance McMillen says she was tricked into attending a sham prom after her after she challenged a ban on same-sex dates, McMillen was nonetheless a prevailing plaintiff in a civil rights suit. So a federal judge has ordered the Itawamba…

Oct 26, 2010 10:16 PM CDT

Cease-and-Desist Order Against Website Selling Class Notes Raises IP Questions

Ryan Stevens launched his idea for NoteUtopia.com—a website that allows students to sell and buy notes for classes—while in a business entrepreneurship class at California State University, Sacramento. Stevens graduated and got permits from his alma mater as well as CSU Chico and CSU East Bay to pass out NoteUtopia…

Oct 18, 2010 4:40 PM CDT