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• Krestan v. Deer Valley Unified Sch. Dist. No. 97, N0. 08-194 (D. Ariz. May 9, 2008) [HTML 8,953kb]
  A U.S. district court has ordered officials at an Arizona high school to play a student religious club’s promotional video during morning announcements and to announce the club’s Bible study on the school’s public address system.
  
• Doninger v. Niehoff, No. 07-3885 (2d Cir. May 29, 2008) [HTML 6,096kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (CT, NY, VT) has ruled that a Connecticut school district that disciplined a student for vulgar and derogatory remarks made off-campus did not violate her free speech or equal protection rights.
  
• A.B. v. State of Indiana, No. 67S01-07-9-JV-373 (Ind. May 13, 2008) [HTML 2,873kb]
  The Indiana Supreme Court has overturned a juvenile court’s decision that a middle school student was delinquent where her postings on MySpace, if made by an adult, would have constituted the criminal offense of harassment.
  
• Jacobs v. Clark County Sch. Dist., No. 05-16434 (9th Cir. May 12, 2008) [HTML 6,972kb]
  In a 2-1 split, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA, GU, MP) has ruled that a Nevada school’s mandatory uniform dress code does not violate students’ First Amendment free speech and free exercise of religion rights, or their Fourteenth Amendment due process rights.
  
• Nuxoll v. Indian Prairie Sch. Dist. #204, No. 08-1050 (7th Cir. Apr. 23, 2008) [HTML 6,695kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (IL, IN, WI) has reversed a federal district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction and ordered that an Illinois school district be compelled to allow a high school student to wear a T-shirt in school bearing the legend “Be Happy, Not Gay” for a “Day of Truth” event.
  
• York v. Wahkiakum Sch. Dist. No. 200, No. 78946-1 (Wash. Mar. 13, 2008) [HTML 5,729kb]
  The Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that a school district’s random, suspicionless drug testing of student athletes violates a state constitution provision that “[n]o person shall be disturbed in his private affairs, or his home invaded, without authority of law.”
  
• R.D.S. v. State, No. M2005-00213-SC-R11-JV (Tenn. Feb. 6, 2007) [HTML 4,768kb]
  The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that a law enforcement officer conducting a student search on school grounds must have “probable cause” for the search, unless the officer is acting in the capacity of a school official.
  
• Harper v. Poway Unified Sch. Dist., No. 04-1103 (S.D. Cal. Feb 11. 2008) [HTML 4,329kb]
  A California federal district court did not change its ruling in favor of a school district in a suit based on a student’s claim that the school district violated her free speech and free exercise of religion rights when it prohibited her from wearing a T-shirt expressing religious objection to homosexuality.
  
• Brown v. Plainfield Cmty. Consol. Dist. 202, 2007 WL 4180358 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 27, 2007) [HTML 3,166kb]
  A U.S. district court in Illinois has ruled that school district officials did not violate a student’s due process rights when they denied him the opportunity to cross-examine student witnesses during his expulsion hearing.
  
• Ponce v. Socorro Indep. Sch. Dist., No. 06-50709 (5th Cir. Nov. 20, 2007) [HTML 5,926kb]
  he U.S. Court of Appeals for Fifth Circuit (LA, MS, TX) has ruled that school officials did not violate a Texas high school student’s free speech rights when they disciplined him over entries in his personal journal referring to mounting a “Columbine” style attack on his school.
  
• Peterson v. Baker, No. 06-16180 (11th Cir. Oct. 25, 2007) [HTML 4,097kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (AL, FL, GA) has ruled that a Georgia teacher did not violate a student’s right to substantive due process when she administered corporal punishment, because her use of force was not excessive as a legal matter.
  
• Nguon v. Wolf, No. 05-868 (C.D. Cal. Sept. 25, 2007) [HTML 4,146kb]
  A U.S. district court in California has ruled that school officials did not violate a lesbian student’s rights to equal protection, free speech, or privacy when they disciplined her for inappropriate public displays of affection (IPDA).
  
• Barnett v. Tipton County Bd. Of Educ., No. 07-02055 (W.D. Tenn. Feb. 13, 2007) [HTML 8,183kb]
  The U,S, District Court for the Western District of Tennessee denied a motion for a preliminary injunction by students who were disciplined for creating a parody MySpace profile of a school administrator off-campus, after school hours without utilizing school resources.
  
• Scanlon v. Las Cruces Public Schools [HTML 5,510kb]
  The New Mexico Court of Appeals has ruled that a school hearing authority did not improperly consider evidence seized in a search of a student’s car, even if the search violated the student’s Fourth Amendment rights, because the rule excluding such evidence does not apply to school disciplinary hearings.
  
• SAGE v. Osseo Area Sch. Dist. No. 279, No. 05-2100 (D. Minn. Sept. 25, 2007) [HTML 4,793kb]
  A Minnesota federal district court has ruled that a school district violated a gay student club’s rights under the Equal Access Act (EAA) because it denied the club access to school facilities on the same basis as other noncurricular student groups.
  
• Redding v. Safford Unified Sch. Dist. #1, No. 05-15759 (9th Cir. Sept. 21, 2007) [HTML 4,088kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that school officials did not violate a student’s Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights when they conducted a warrantless strip search of her person during school hours on school premises after receiving information from two student informants.
  
• DePinto v. Bayonne Bd. of Educ., No. 06-5765 (D. N.J. Sept. 19, 2007) [HTML 3,328kb]
  A New Jersey federal district court has issued an order prohibiting a school district from disciplining elementary school students who wore a button protesting the school district’s mandatory uniform policy.
  
• Laney v. Farley, No. 06-6000 (6th Cir. Aug. 28, 2007) [HTML 3,877kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (KY, MI, OH, TN) has ruled that school officials did not violate a student’s due process rights by giving her a one-day, in-school suspension, without notice and an opportunity to be heard, for violating the Tennessee school district’s policy banning cell phones in school.
  
• B.W.A. v. Farmington R-7 Sch. Dist., 2007 WL 2323400 (E.D. Mo. Aug. 10, 2007) [HTML 4,043kb]
  A U.S. district court in Missouri has ruled that a school district did not violate a student’s free speech rights by prohibiting him from wearing a Confederate flag symbol in school.
  
• Truth v. Kent Sch. Dist., No. 04-35876 (9th Cir. Aug. 24, 2007) [HTML 6,217kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that a school district in the state of Washington did not violate the federal Equal Access Act (EAA) or the First Amendment when it refused formal recognition to a student Bible club on the ground that the club’s membership requirements violated the district’s non-discrimination policies.
  
• Lowery v. Euverard, No. 06-6172 (6th Cir. Aug. 3, 2007) [HTML 5,060kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (MI, OH, KY TN) has ruled that the head varsity football coach did not violate the free speech rights of team members when the head coach dismissed them from the team after learning the players had circulated a petition denouncing the head coach and refused to apologize for signing it.
  
• Wisniewski v. Bd. of Educ. of Weedsport Cent. Sch. Dist., No. 06-3394-cv (2d Cir. July 5, 2007) [HTML 3,944kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (CT, NY, VT) has upheld the suspension of a student who created an instant messaging (IM) icon depicting his teacher being shot.
  
• Layshock v. Hermitage Sch. Dist., No. 06-116 (July 10, 2007) [HTML 5,331kb]
  A federal district court in Pennsylvania has ruled that school officials violated a high school student’s free speech rights when they disciplined him for his off-campus parody MySpace profile of the school’s principal.
  
• Unified Sch. Dist. No. 259 v. Disability Rights Center of Kansas, No. 06-3057 (10th Cir. 2007) [HTML 2,418kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (CO, KS, NM, OK, UT, WY) has dismissed an appeal for lack of jurisdiction and has rendered the case moot after an agency voluntarily withdrew its contested records request from the school district.
  
• Scott v. Napa Valley Unified Sch. Dist., No. 26-37082 (Cal. Super. Ct. July 2, 2007) [HTML 4,937kb]
  A California trial court has issued a preliminary injunction enjoining a middle school from enforcing its dress code policy that requires students to wear apparel that is plain, i.e., “no pictures, patterns, stripes or logos of any size or kind.”
  
• Morse v. Frederick, No. 06-278 (U.S. June 25, 2007) [HTML 8,509kb]
  The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that public school officials may restrict student speech at a school event when the speech is reasonably viewed as promoting illegal drug use.
  
• Busch v. Marple Newtown Sch. Dist., No. 05-2094 (E.D. Pa. May 31, 2007) [HTML 4,025kb]
  A Pennsylvania federal district court has ruled that school officials did not violate a student’s or his parent’s free speech or equal protection rights, or the Establishment Clause, when they barred the parent from reading Bible verses in class as part of an elementary school social studies unit focused on learning about particular students.
  
• Smith v. Novato Unified Sch. Dist., No. A112083 (Cal. App. May 21, 2007) [HTML 6,465kb]
  A California appeals court has ruled that school district officials violated a student’s free speech rights under the California education code when they publicly announced that his editorial article, which they had allowed to be published, should not have been published because it was not protected speech.
  
• Rice v. Gans-Rugebregt, No. 233600 (Cal. Super. Ct. May 15, 2007) [HTML 4,098kb]
  A California state trial court has ruled that a student could not recover monetary damages under those provisions in the state’s education code guaranteeing all students an equal educational opportunity.
  
• D.B. v. Lafon, No. 06-5982 (6th Cir. Feb. 21, 2007) [HTML 4,791kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that officials at a Tennessee high school did not violate students’ free speech rights by prohibiting clothing that depicts the Confederate battle flag.
  
• Board of Trustees, Cut Bank Pub. Sch. v. Cut Bank Pioneer Press, No. 06-0074 (Mont. May 8, 2007) [HTML 3,091kb]
  The Montana Supreme Court has ruled that a newspaper was entitled to a redacted copy of a school board’s records regarding disciplinary action taken against students.
  
• Price v. New York City Bd. of Educ., 109703/06 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. May 7, 2007) [HTML 4,146kb]
  A state trial court in New York has upheld the New York City Department of Education’s policy prohibiting students from bringing cell phones to school without permission.
  
• Gay-Straight Alliance of Okeechobee High Sch. v. Sch. Bd. of Okeechobee County, No. 06-14320-CIV (S.D. Fla. Apr. 6, 2007) [HTML 3,615kb]
  A federal district court in Florida has ordered a school board to extend official recognition and the same privileges as other non-curricular clubs enjoy to a Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) club.
  
• Zamecnik v. Indian Prairie Sch. Dist. #204, No. 07-1586 (N.D. Ill. April 17, 2007) [HTML 7,387kb]
  A U.S. district court in Illinois has declined to issue a preliminary order to force a high school to allow two students to wear T-shirts with a message the school deems anti-gay.
  
• M.B. v. Liverpool Cent. Sch. Dist., No. 04-1255 (N.D. N.Y. March 29, 2007) [HTML 10,445kb]
  A U.S. district court in New York has ruled that a school district violated an elementary school student’s right to free speech when it rejected her request to distribute a “personal statement” concerning the impact Jesus Christ has had on her life to classmates during non-instructional time.
  
• Brandt v. Board of Education of City of Chicago, No. 06-2573 (7th Cir. Feb. 20, 2007) [HTML 5,816kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled that a group of students disciplined for wearing a banned T-shirt as part of a protest of the outcome of the school’s official T-shirt contest were not engaged in expression protected by the First Amendment.
  
• Pace v. Talley, No. 05-30528 (5th Cir. Nov. 21, 2006) [HTML 1,199kb]
  In a per curiam decision (an appellate opinion that does not identify the judge who authored it), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that school officials at a Louisiana high school did not violate a student’s constitutional rights by reporting the student’s alleged threat about school violence without first affording the student an opportunity to respond to the accusation.
  
• M.A.L. v. Kinsland, No. 07-10391 (E.D. Mich. Jan. 30, 2007) [HTML 5,782kb]
  A Michigan federal district has issued a preliminary injunction preventing school officials from enforcing a policy that would prohibit a student from distributing literature in the hallways between classes, finding that the officials had failed to demonstrate that such distribution would pose a risk of substantially disrupting school operations.
  
• Raker v. Frederick County Public Schools, No. 06-00122 (W.D. Va. Jan. 19, 2007) [HTML 5,738kb]
  Virginia federal district court has issued a preliminary injunction preventing a school district from enforcing a rule that any distribution of non-school materials must take place before or after the school day.
  
• In re Amir X.S., No. 26219 (S.C. Nov. 6, 2006) [HTML 4,296kb]
  The South Carolina supreme court has ruled that a state statute making it illegal for a person intentionally to interfere with or disturb students or teachers does not violate the First Amendment’s free speech protections.
  
• Curry v. School District of the City of Saginaw, No. 04-10143 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 18, 2006) [HTML 5,909kb]
  A Michigan federal district court has ruled that neither a school district nor a principal is liable under Section 1983 for violating a student’s free speech rights, even though the principal unjustifiably restricted the student from distributing religious messages as part of a class project.
  
• Guiles v. Marineau, No. 05-0327 (2d Cir. Aug. 30, 2006) [HTML 7,475kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that a school district violated a student’s free speech rights when it disciplined him for wearing a T-shirt critical of President Bush that featured drug and alcohol related images and text.
  
• Harper v. Poway Unified School District, No. 04-57037 (9th Cir. July 31, 2006) [HTML 2,975kb]
  A majority of the active judges sitting on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has denied a request for an en banc rehearing of a case involving a high school student who was prohibited from wearing a T-shirt expressing religious condemnation of homosexuality to school.
  
• Christian Legal Society v. Walker, No. 05-3239 (7th Cir. July 10, 2006) [HTML 5,482kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has ruled that a state university violated the free speech and expressive association rights of a Christian student organization when it revoked the group's official status for excluding students who engage in or affirm homosexual conduct.
  
• Phaneuf v. Fraikin, No. 04-4783 (2d Cir. May 19, 2006) [HTML 3,834kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has ruled that school officials violated a student's Fourth Amendment right to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure by subjecting her to a strip search after receiving a tip that she planned to bring marijuana to a class picnic.
  
• Frazier v. Alexandre, No. 05-81142 (S.D. Fla. May 31, 2006) [HTML 6,361kb]
  A federal district court in Florida has ruled that a 1942 state law requiring students to stand and recite the Pledge of Allegiance violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, even though the law allows students to opt out, because they can only do so with written parental permission and are still required to stand during the recitation.
  
• Pinard v. Clatskaine School District 6J, No. 04-35574 (9th Cir. May 1, 2006) [HTML 6,316kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that student speech need not be on a matter of public concern in order to enjoy First Amendment protection.
  
• Harper v. Poway Unified School District, No. 04-57037 (9th Cir. Apr. 20, 2006) [HTML 10,655kb]
  In a 2-1 panel decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld a California federal district court’s refusal to issue a preliminary injunction ordering a school district to allow a student to a wear a T-shirt that contains a message condemning homosexuality in school.
  
• Governor Wentworth Regional School District v. Hendrickson, No. 05-133 (D. N.H. March 15, 2006) [HTML 4,405kb]
  A New Hampshire federal district court has ruled that a high school principal did not violate a student’s free speech rights by suspending him for wearing an arm patch with a swastika with the international “no” symbol superimposed over it.
  
• Frederick v. Morse, No. 03-35701 (9th Cir. March 10, 2006) [HTML 7,048kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that a Juneau, Alaska high school student's right to free speech was violated when he was suspended for off-campus speech during a school-authorized activity-speech that the school district argued promoted a message contrary to the school's educational mission.
  
• Rome City School District v. Grifasi, NY slip op 25525 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Oct. 28, 2005) [HTML 2,389kb]
  A New York state court has found that a school district surveillance tape is not an "educational record" within the meaning of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and, therefore, is subject to disclosure.
  
• Layshock v. Hermitage School District, 412 F.Supp.2d 502, 2006 WL 240655 (W.D. Pa. Jan. 31, 2006) [HTML 3,278kb]
  A Pennsylvania federal district court has denied a high school student's motion for a preliminary injunction that would have barred school officials from disciplining him for creating an online parody profile of the school's principal on an off-campus computer.
  
• C.N. v. Wolf, No. 05-868 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 28, 2005) [HTML 5,123kb]
  A California federal district court has declined to dismiss a student's claim that a high school principal violated the student's right to privacy when the principal informed the student's mother that the student was gay.
  
• Shuman v. Penn Manor School District, No. 04-2715 (3d Cir. Sept. 7, 2005) [HTML 3,552kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that school officials did not violate a student's Fourth Amendment protections against search and seizure when they detained him in a conference room for several hours while they investigated an accusation leveled against him for sexual misconduct.