Legal Issues in Education

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Legal Issues in Education
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Freedom of Speech

• 1st Amendment
• Congress shall make no law respecting an
  establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
  free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom
  of speech, or of the press or the right of the
  people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
  Government for a redress of grievance.
• 14th Amendment
• Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in
  the United States, and subject to the
  juristiction thereof, are citizens of the United
  States and of the state wherein they reside. No
  state shall make or enforce any law which shall
  abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens
  of the United States nor shall any state deprive
  any person of life, liberty, or property, without
  due process of law nor deny any person within
  its juristiction the equal protection of laws.

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Freedom of Speech

• Tinker 1969
• Armbands - OK
• Iron Cross - OK
• Bethel school district 1986
• A students freedom to advocate unpopular or
  controversial views in school must be balanced by
  societys interest in teaching students the
  boundaries of socially acceptable behavior.-- The
  determination of what manner of speech in the
  classroom is offensive properly rests with the
  school board

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Freedom of speech - its blurry

• Confederate flag banned in some cases - OK in
  others
• straight-pride shirt ruled OK

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Criminal Sexual Conduct

• East High School

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Internet

• Email is not private
• Web-sites are monitored

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Neglect

• You are a mandated reporter
• A report must be made if you know or have reason
  to believe a child is being neglected or
  physically or sexually abused, or has been so in
  the last 3 years.
• Neglect is failure by a person responsible for a
  childs care to supply a child with necessary
  food, clothing, shelter, health, medical, or
  other care required for the childs physical or
  mental health
• Failure to protect child from dangerous
  conditions
• Failure to provide for necessary supervision
• Failure to ensure that the child is educated
• Failure to report could result in a misdimeanor

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Academic Freedom

• A teacher has a right to discuss controversial
  topics, ideas, and philosophies in a classroom as
  long as the topic is related to the subject
  matter that the teacher has been assigned to.

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Student Supervision

• A school districts duty is to use reasonable
  care to supervise students
• Foreseeability -
• Amount of care depends on age, maturity, and
  mental and physical capacity of students
• Field Trips - error on the side of more chaperones

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Harassment/Hazing

• Harassment
• Sexual
• Racial/religious
• Disability

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Harassment/Hazing

• School liability when harassment occurs
• No obligation to purge a school of harasment
• But, once the school knows of a specific case,
  prompt and appropriate remedial action is
  required investigation, and perhaps,
  disciplinary action, changing class schedules,
  counciling, and additional supervision, and then
  monitoring of the situation.
• Hazing - is it foreseeable?

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Locker Searches

• 4th amendment protects students from unreasonable
  searches and seizures.
• A warrant is not needed if a student is suspected
  of breaking a law or school rule.
• Lockers are property of the school and can be
  searchedpurses, jackets, etc.. In the locker can
  be searched if reasonable suspicion exists.
• T.L.O. - purse searched in principals office -
  marijuana found - US supreme court found that her
  4th amendment rights were not violated

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What is a reasonable search?

• Least intrusive
• Students have a greater expectation of privacy on
  their body than their locker
• Searching for drugs and weapons is the most
  compelling reason for a search.
• School property applies to cars in the parking
  lot
• P.E.A. school thought he had drugs - none found
  in locker - found a substantial amount in car

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Drug Searches

• Drug sniffing dogs - OK
• Surveillance - OK
• Drug testing athletes - OK
• Drug testing choir kids - OK
• If its extra-curricular

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Restraint

• In the event of an emergency Minn Stat 609.379
  states that reasonable force may be used by a
  teacher against the person on a minor in the
  exercise of lawful authority without the minors
  consent to restrain or correct the student.
• Unreasonable use of physical force can constitute
  a crime.
• Restraint can be used if it is in his IEP