Education Law

ACLU Sues over Expulsion of Eighth Graders for Facebook Posts About Killing Ugly Classmates

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a First Amendment lawsuit over the expulsion of three eighth grade girls who posted Facebook comments about which classmates they would like to kill. The suit against Griffith Public Schools in Northern Indiana says the posts were just “teenage banter” and should not…

Apr 26, 2012 11:38 AM CDT

Would-Be Transfer Student with Emotional and Learning Disabilities Sues for LSAT Accommodations

A law student in Massachusetts who suffers from mental health problems has filed a lawsuit seeking accommodations when taking the Law School Admission Test. The student, who identifies himself using the pseudonym “Nathan F.,” seeks twice the time to take the test, the National Law Journal (sub. req.) reports. The…

Apr 25, 2012 2:49 PM CDT

Lawyer Scoffs at Portrayal of Kid Whose School Bus Ouster Led to Criminal Charges Against Principal

A lawyer for a West Virginia school principal says the public hasn’t learned the whole story in the prosecution of his client for forcibly ejecting a boy from a school bus. The Point Pleasant intermediate school principal, Cameron Moffett, is facing a civil suit as well as a criminal charge…

Apr 19, 2012 11:50 AM CDT

Police Cuff Ga. Kindergartener for School Tantrum; School Arrests Challenged in NM Suit

Are teachers and police overreacting to misbehaving school kids? In the most recent incident raising the question, police in Milledgeville, Ga., handcuffed a 6-year-old kindergartner who had a school tantrum, the Associated Press reports. The child was accused of throwing books, toys and a small shelf, and jumping on a…

Apr 18, 2012 12:24 PM CDT

Developers: Planned Law School in Daytona Beach Would Cost Up to 35% Less Than Most Schools

Plans for a law school in Daytona Beach, Fla., are in the works. Jacksonville, Fla., lawyers Eric Smith and Steven Nemerson, both former educators, are behind the plans, along with Jacksonville developer Jim Catlett, the Florida Times Union reports. Smith says Daytona Beach, with its large population of aeronautical and…

Apr 16, 2012 7:13 PM CDT

Ohio High School Student Sues over Right to Wear ‘Jesus Is Not a Homophobe’ T-Shirt

An Ohio high school student has won a concession in his suit seeking the right to wear a T-shirt that reads, “Jesus Is Not a Homophobe.” Maverick Couch, 16, will be able to wear the shirt to Waynesville High School on the April 20 Day of Silence to protest the…

Apr 5, 2012 1:44 PM CDT

Facing Potential Deportation, Convicted Rutgers Student Says He’s Not Sorry He Nixed Plea Deal

Convicted last week of using a webcam to spy on his then-roommate while he was having sex with another man, a former Rutgers University student now says he’s very sorry about a situation that he describes largely as a misunderstanding. Shortly after the September 2010 incident, his roommate, Tyler Clementi,…

Mar 22, 2012 10:18 PM CDT

Did Then-Law Clerk Rehnquist Support Separate-But-Equal Ruling? Article Cites Summary of Lost Letter

A new law review article considers whether William H. Rehnquist was citing his own views in 1952 when he wrote a memo as a Supreme Court law clerk supporting the 1896 decision upholding the separate-but-equal doctrine. “I realize it is an unpopular and unhumanitarian position, for which I have been…

Mar 22, 2012 11:10 AM CDT

ABA Legal Ed Section’s Council Advances Law School Disclosure Requirements

The governing council of the ABA’s law school accrediting arm has given preliminary approval to a new accreditation standard that would greatly expand the amount of consumer information law schools must publicly disclose to prospective students. The proposed new standard was approved Saturday for notice and comment by the Council…

Mar 20, 2012 9:53 PM CDT

Enterprising Fifth Grader Organizes School Bracket, Learns Gambling Is ‘Illegal, Sort Of’

An Omaha fifth grader thought he could win the jackpot when he organized his own March madness bracket and sought $5 from friends who wanted to wager. Instead, 11-year-old Max Kohll got hauled in front of his principal at Columbian Elementary, the Omaha World Herald reports. “It turns out that…

Mar 19, 2012 12:32 PM CDT

Ex-Rutgers Student Guilty on Multiple Counts, Could Get Max in Webcam Hate Crime Case

A former Rutgers University student accused of using a webcam to spy on his roommate’s same-sex tryst has been found guilty on multiple charges but acquitted of bias intimidation today by a Middlesex County, N.J., jury. Nonetheless, 20-year-old Dharun Ravi could face the maximum penalty of 10 years in prison…

Mar 16, 2012 5:12 PM CDT

Jury Awards $4M Each to Families of Two Slain Va. Tech Students; Awards Likely to Be Capped at $100K

Siding with the families of two Virginia Tech students slain in a 2007 campus massacre by another student that left 33 individuals dead, a state-court jury in Christianburg today awarded $4 million to each of the families in a duty-to-warn case. The state, which is the only defendant, immediately filed…

Mar 14, 2012 9:37 PM CDT

How to Narrow Class Divide? Author Suggests Suit Challenging Employer B.A. Requirements

A successful lawsuit could help weaken privileges for kids of the new upper class, according to the author of a book on the divide between professional and working classes. Charles Murray, author of Coming Apart, outlines his idea in an op-ed for the New York Times. In his words, “We…

Mar 8, 2012 1:13 PM CST

Wiley Rein Co-Founder Takes on Two Cases Pushed by Foundation Opposing Preferences

Antitrust litigator Bert Rein will be arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time when he represents Abigail Fisher in a case challenging race-conscious admissions at the University of Texas. Rein, the co-founder of Wiley Rein, took the case after he was approached by Edward Blum, who runs…

Mar 5, 2012 4:28 PM CST

Is Federal Probe of Former Penn State Football Coach Sandusky Focusing on Possible Cover-Up?

A federal investigation of a former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach appears to be taking a different tack than the state probe that has already resulted in a long list of criminal charges against Jerry Sandusky. Apparently leaving the child sex-abuse case to the state to pursue, the feds…

Mar 2, 2012 6:17 PM CST