LAW AND EDUCATION QUESTIONS BEFORE CLASS
In connection with each reading assignment, there are questions
which you should attempt to answer prior to class to help you
prepare for class discussion. You do not need to write out your
answers. These questions are listed by assignment number and case
name within the assignment. They will be posted at least several
classes in advance.
Assignment 1 (pages 1-27) (Introduction, Tinker, Fraser,
Kuhlmeier, and Morse v. Frederick)
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
No. 21
1. What did the principals of the Des Moines public schools do
when they learned that some students planned to wear black
armbands to school to protest the War in Vietnam?
2. There isn’t any doubt that wearing a t-shirt saying “I oppose
the Vietnam War” is speech, but do you think wearing a black
armband should be considered speech under the First Amendment?
3. If you were advising Des Moines public school principals after
the Supreme Court decided Tinker, what would you tell them
they would have to prove in order to justify suspending a student
for wearing clothing with a political message?
Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser
4. Who was the audience for Matthew Fraser’s speech?
5. Did Fraser use any profanity in his nominating speech?
6. What case does Fraser rely on to argue that the school violated
his First Amendment rights?
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier
7. Was writing for the student newspaper a curricular or
extracurricular activity?
8. Why did the principal insist that the articles about divorce
and pregnant high school students be removed from the school
newspaper?
9. Does the Supreme Court apply the Tinker standard in its
analysis in Kuhlmeier?
Morse v. Frederick
10. If you saw Frederick’s “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” banner, what would
you think it meant?
11. Frederick was not inside the school building when he held up
his banner, why is his speech considered to be school speech?
12. Why doesn’t the Court apply the Tinker standard in Morse?
Assignment 2 (pages 27-51) (D.J.M., Cuff, Hardwick,
Broussard, Guiles)
D.J.M. v. Hannibal Public School District No. 60
1. What provision of the student code of conduct did D.J.M.
violate by his messages?
2. How was a true threat defined in Doe v. Pulaski Cnty.
Special Sch. Dist.?
3. What were D.J.M’s arguments that his messages were not true
threats?
4. In addition to its true threat analysis, what other legal
argument did the Eighth Circuit rely on in its decision?
Cuff v. Valley Central School District
5. B.C. created his drawing for an in-class assignment. Should his
speech have been considered to be school-sponsored speech governed
by Kuhlmeier?
6. Had B.C. been in trouble at school before the astronaut
drawing?
7. When B.C. shared his drawing with other students in his science
class, did it cause disruption?
Hardwick ex rel. Hardwick v. Heyward
8. Was there disruption when Candice Hardwick wore her Confederate
flag shirt to school?
9. Is it relevant to the outcome of the case that Candice Hardwick
went to school in Latta, South Carolina rather than in
Springfield, Massachusetts?
Broussard ex rel. Lord v. School Board of City of Norfolk
10. How did the court determine the meaning of the phrase Drugs
Suck!? What kind of evidence did it consider?
11. Was Kimberly instructed not to wear her Drugs Suck! t-shirt
because of the message on the shirt or because of how the shirt
expressed the message?
Guiles ex rel. Guiles v. Marineau
12. Both Kimberly Broussard and Zachary Guiles were seventh-grade
students who got in trouble for wearing t-shirts with words on
them to school. Which of the 2 shirts do you think was the most
inappropriate to wear to school? Which was more likely to cause
disruption?
13. Why did the court in Guiles conclude that Fraser
was inapplicable to the case and it was governed by Tinker
instead?
Assignment 3 (pages 51-78) (Doninger, Layshock, Canady,
Lowry, Frudden, Pyle)
Doninger v. Niehoff
1. How was Avery Doninger disciplined for the way she communicated
with her classmates over problems with the scheduling of Jamfest?
2. Should Fraser apply to off-campus student speech like
Avery’s blog?
3. What if Avery wrote a blog post calling President Trump a
“doucebag” for his position on immigration. Could her school
discipline her for her speech?
Layshock ex rel. Layshock v. Hermitage School District
4. What are the connections between Hickory High School and the
fake profile Justin Layshock created on “MySpace” while at his
grandmother’s house and using her computer?
5. Why does the court in Layshock conclude that Fraser is
not applicable to Justin Layshock’s speech?
Canady v. Bossier Parish School District
6. Why does the court in Canady conclude that Tinker
is not applicable to a First Amendment challenge to the school
district’s mandatory school uniform policy?
7. What standard does the Canady court use to review the
school district’s uniform policy?
Lowry v. Watson Chapel School District
8. As the trial began in Lowry v. Watson Chapel School
District, what two stipulations did the school district make
and do you agree with the district’s legal strategy?
9. If the black armbands had been worn so that they covered up
part of the school uniform, would the court’s analysis have been
different?
10. How did the school district attempt to distinguish Tinker?
Frudden v. Pilling
11. In Frudden v. Pilling, how did the fact that the
school uniform included the written motto, “Tomorrow’s Leaders,”
affect the court’s analysis?
Pyle v. School Committee of South Hadley
12. If Massachusetts did not have a statute that protected student
speech, is it likely that a public high school would be allowed to
discipline students who wore t-shirts with the words "See Dick
Drink. See Dick Drive. See Dick Die. Don't be a Dick" and "Coed
Naked Band: Do It To the Rhythm" written on them consistent with
the quartet of Supreme Court student free speech cases?
Assignment 4 (pages 79-103) (Introduction, Brown, Grutter,
Gratz, and Parents Involved in Community Schools)
Brown v. Board of Education
1. In Brown v. Board of Education, does the Supreme Court
rely on the history of the 14th Amendment to reach its decision?
2. Does the Court rely on the history of public education at the
time the 14th Amendment was adopted to reach its decision?
3. The Court concludes that “[s]eparate educational facilities are
inherently unequal.” Why does it reach this conclusion?
Grutter v. Bollinger
4. In Grutter v. Bollinger, the Court uses strict scrutiny
to analyze the Michigan Law School's affirmative action program.
What compelling interest does the Court recognize?
5. Why is the Law School's admissions program narrowly tailored?
6. Would the Law School have been permitted to set aside a
specific number of seats in its entering class for
underrepresented minority students?
Gratz v. Bollinger
7. In Gratz v. Bollinger, how did the University of
Michigan take race into account in its undergraduate admissions
system?
8. Why does the Court conclude that the University's undergraduate
admissions system violates the Fourteenth Amendment Equal
Protection Clause?
Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School Dist.
No. 1
9. In Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School
Dist. No. 1, what is the goal of the pupil assignment plans
in the Seattle and Jefferson County school systems?
10. How do the Seattle and Jefferson County school systems
identify racially imbalanced schools?
11. Jefferson County operated a racially segregated public school
system for many years. Does that fact make any constitutional
difference in the county’s ability to remedy racial imbalance in
its public school system?
12. What standard does the Supreme Court apply to decide if the
plans are constitutional?
13. Which is the most important opinion of the five opinions in Parents
Involved?
Assignment 5 (Pages 103-132) (United States v. Virginia,
A.N.A., Doe, Plyler, Martinez, Rodriguez, and Kadrmas)
United States v. Virginia
1. In United States v. Virginia, what standard of review
does the Court apply to gender discrimination?
2. What justifications does Virginia offer for its decision to
exclude women from VMI?
3. Does the opinion concede that VMI will have to completely
change its system of education if it is required to admit women?
4. Why is the creation of the Virginia Women’s Institute for
Leadership insufficient to cure the equal protection defect
identified by the Court in United States v. Virginia?
5. In his dissenting opinion, what standard would Justice Scalia
prefer the Court apply to gender discrimination?
A.N.A. v. Breckinridge Board of Education
6. In A.N.A. v. Breckinridge Board of Education, the court
does not apply the reasoning of Brown v. Board of Education,
that intentional racial segregation in public schools is
inherently unequal, to intentional separation in education based
on gender. Why does the court treat race and gender differently?
Doe v. Wood County Board of Education
7. In Doe v. Wood County Board of Education, what system
did Van Devender Middle School use to sign students up for single
sex classes?
Plyler v. Doe
8. In Plyler v. Doe, does the Supreme Court conclude that
undocumented immigrant children are a suspect class like race or
at least quasi-suspect like gender?
9. Does the Supreme Court conclude that the right to a free public
education is a fundamental right under the Equal Protection
Clause?
10. What standard does the Court apply to evaluate the
constitutionality of the Texas laws at issue?
11. What three state interests does Texas assert to justify its
refusal to provide a free public school education to undocumented
immigrant children?
Martinez v. Bynum
12. In Martinez v. Bynum, what class is discriminated
against by the State of Texas?
13. What standard does the Court apply?
Kadrmas v. Dickinson Public Schools
14. In Kadrmas v. Dickinson Public Schools, how does the
Supreme Court distinguish Plyler v. Doe?
Assignment 6
(Pages 133-162) (Introduction, T.L.O., Safford, Acton, Earls,
and Additional Situations)
T.L.O. v. New Jersey
1. What is the
basis of the argument that the Fourth Amendment should not
apply to searches of students by public school personnel?
2. If the Fourth Amendment applied fully to
public school searches of student belongings by school
employees based on individualized suspicion, what would the
school have to show to justify a search?
3. In T.L.O. v. New Jersey, what standard does the Supreme Court apply
to school searches when a particular student is suspected of
possessing something that school rules prohibit?
4. In T.L.O., does the majority’s approach take into
account the seriousness of the rule the student is suspected
of violating?
Safford Unified School District v. Redding
5.
what is the basis for the
suspicion that Savana Redding sold, used or gave away
prescription and/or over-the-counter pills at school?
6. If Savana Redding had not
given the Assistant Principal permission to search her backpack,
would his search of the backpack have violated the Fourth
Amendment?
7. After concluding that the
Assistant Principal violated the Fourth Amendment, why does the
Supreme Court conclude that he is not liable for damages?
Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton
8. In Vernonia, did the Supreme
Court apply the test from T.L.O. v. New Jersey?
9. What are some examples of suspicionless
searches that the Supreme Court has upheld in the past?
10. Does the Court conclude that public
schools exercise the same authority over their students as
parent do over their children?
11. How does the Court assess the character of
the intrusion involved in the testing?
Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of
Pottawatomie County v. Earls
12. To justify the
drug testing, did the Court in Earls require the
school district to have a drug problem as serious as the one
that existed in Vernonia School District 47J?
13. Why does the
Supreme Court conclude that members of the Academic Team have
the same limited expectation of privacy as student athletes?
Assignment 7 (Pages 163-191) (Introduction, McCollum, Zorach,
Engel, Schempp, Stone and Wallace)
Illinois ex rel. McCollum v.
Board of Education
1. In Illinois ex rel. McCollum v.
Board of Education, where do the religion classes take place?
2. How do students
enroll in the religion classes?
3. How does a school
know if students who sign up actually attend the religion
classes?
4. What
constitutional defects does the Supreme Court identify which
cause the Court to invalidate the Illinois program as a
violation of the Establishment Clause?
Zorach v. Clauson
5. In Zorach v. Clauson, what are the
differences between the New York City program in Zorach and the Illinois
program in McCollum?
Engel v. Vitale
6. In Engel v. Vitale, who wrote the
prayer and when and where was the prayer recited?
School District of Abington
Township v. Schempp
7. In School District of Abington
Township v. Schempp, what two criteria would the government have to
satisfy in order to defeat the Establishment Clause challenge
to daily Bible reading in the public schools?
Stone v. Graham
8. What evidence did
the state present to support its argument that it had a
secular purpose for the posting of the Ten Commandments?
9. Why did the Court
reject the state’s argument?
10. In what ways can
the Ten Commandments be included in the public school
curriculum?
Wallace v. Jaffree
11. In Wallace v. Jaffree, what is the
difference between § 16-1-20 which authorized a 1-minute
period of silence in all public schools and § 16-1-20.1?
12. What was Senator
Donald Holmes’s reason for sponsoring § 16-1-20.1?
13. In Justice
O’Connor’s opinion concurring in the judgment, in what ways
does she want to alter the Lemon test?
14. Does Justice
O’Connor conclude that other moment of silence laws are also
likely to be struck down as violations of the Establishment
Clause?
Assignment 8 (Pages
191-219) (Weisman, Doe, and Newdow)
Lee
v. Weisman
1. In Lee v. Weisman, who invited Rabbi Gutterman to lead those in
attendance at graduation in prayer?
2. Did the rabbi receive any guidance from the
school principal about how to compose the invocation and
benediction he recited at graduation?
3. In resolving the dispute, does the Supreme
Court use the Lemon test?
4. Since attendance at graduation is
voluntary, does the Court conclude that there is no coercion
to attend graduation and participate in the prayers?
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe
5. In Santa Fe Independent School
District v. Doe, how is it
decided whether there will be a prayer before home football
games and who will deliver the prayer?
6. In what way did the school district’s
football prayer policy change between August, 1995 and
October, 1995?
7. How does the Supreme Court respond to the
school district’s argument that the football prayers are the
private speech of students and not government speech and,
therefore, do not violate the Establishment Clause?
8. Does the Court apply the Lemon test
to determine whether the school district’s policy violates
the Establishment Clause?
Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow
9. In Elk Grove Unified School
District v. Newdow, what does
Justice Stevens’s opinion for the Court decide?
10. In Chief Justice Rehnquist’s view why are
the addition of the words “under God” to the Pledge of
Allegiance constitutional?
11. In Justice O’Connor’s view why are the
addition of the words “under God” to the Pledge of
Allegiance constitutional?
Assignment 9 (Pages 219-246)
(Epperson, Edwards, Mergens, Lamb’s Chapel, and Good News
Club)
Epperson v.
Arkansas
1. In Epperson
v. Arkansas, what dilemma did Susan Epperson face
that caused her to file a lawsuit to challenge the
Arkansas law?
2. In reviewing the constitutionality of the Arkansas law,
what test does the Supreme Court apply?
3. Why does the Court conclude that the Arkansas law fails
the test?
Edwards v. Aguillard
4. In Edwards v. Aguillard, is there a stated
secular purpose to justify the enactment of the Louisiana
law?
5. Why does the Supreme Court strike down the law as a
violation of the Establishment Clause?
Board of Education of the Westside Community Schools v.
Mergens
6. Under the Equal Access Act, what must a
public secondary school do to create a limited open forum?
7. Why does the Supreme Court conclude that the Equal Access
Act does not have the primary effect of advancing religion?
Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches School District
8. In Lamb’s Chapel, the school district relies on
the Establishment Clause to defend itself against the
argument that it violated the Free Speech Clause by
prohibiting a church from using school facilities to display
a film about family and child-rearing issues from a
Christian perspective. Why does the Supreme Court reject the
school district’s Establishment Clause defense?
Good News Club v. Milford Central School
9. Did the Milford Central School create a limited public
forum by opening its facilities for use by district
residents?
10. What test does the Supreme Court apply to determine if
the exclusion of the Good News Club violates the Free Speech
Clause?
11. Why does the Court conclude that the exclusion of the
Good News Club constitutes viewpoint discrimination rather
than subject matter discrimination?
12. How does Milford attempt to distinguish Widmar v.
Vincent and Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches
School District?
Assignment 10 (Pages 247-271) (Introduction, Yoder,
Griffith, and A.A. ex rel. Betenbaugh)
Wisconsin v. Yoder
1. In Wisconsin v. Yoder, how much of
a burden does Wisconsin law impose on Amish religious
beliefs?
2. What evidence does the Supreme Court rely on to determine
the respondents’ behavior is based on religion and not a
lifestyle choice?
3. Why does the Amish religion object to school past the
eighth grade, but not object to school through the eighth
grade?
4. What standard does the Court require Wisconsin to satisfy
to defeat the free exercise claim once the Court concludes
the respondents have satisfied the preliminary hurdles by
demonstrating that Wisconsin’s compulsory education law
imposes a significant burden on their sincerely-held
religious beliefs?
5. What two state interests does Wisconsin assert to justify
its system of compulsory education?
Griffith
v. Caney Valley Public Schools
6. In Griffith v. Caney Valley Public Schools, why
does Caney Valley High School prohibit students from
decorating their graduation caps?
7. Why does the district court conclude that the school’s
policy prohibiting decorations on graduation caps is a
neutral policy of general applicability?
8. Why does the district court reject the argument that it
should apply heightened scrutiny to the school's policy
based on a hybrid-rights theory?
A.A.
ex rel. Betenbaugh v. Needville Independent School
District
9. In A.A. ex rel.
Betenbaugh v. Needville Independent School District,
what arguments does the school district make to try to
convince the court that the Plaintiff Arocha’s decision to
wear his hair long is not based on a religious belief?
10. Did the school district’s decision to create an
exemption policy specifically for A.A. help its legal
position?
11. What arguments do the plaintiffs make to convince the
court that their free exercise claim should be analyzed
using strict scrutiny?
12. What constitutional rights do the plaintiffs rely on to
support their hybrid rights claim under the Free Exercise
Clause?
13. What does the school district argue to show that it can
satisfy the strict scrutiny test and why does the court
reject its arguments?
Asssignment 11 (Pages 271-293) (Vaccination
Requirements, Workman, Phillips, Parker, and Combs)
Workman v. Mingo County Board of Education
1. In Workman v. Mingo County Board of
Education, what is the state’s compelling reason for
mandating that children be vaccinated in order to attend
public schools?
Phillips
v. City of New York
2. In Phillips v. City of
New York, why did the Magistrate Judge conclude that
Dina Check was not entitled to a religious exemption from
the mandatory vaccination requirement?
3. In light of the fact that Plaintiffs Phillips and
Mendoza-Vaca had valid religious exemptions from New York’s
mandatory vaccination requirement, why was the state
permitted to exclude their children from school during the
outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease?
Parker v. Hurley
4. In Parker v. Hurley, what kind of books do the
Parkers and the Wirthlins raise objections to in their
lawsuit?
5. Do the plaintiffs argue these books should be excluded
from the elementary school curriculum?
6. What constitutional claims do the plaintiffs raise?
7. Does the court recognize the hybrid rights doctrine?
Combs
v. Homer-Center School District
8. In Combs v.
Homer-Center School District, what forms of state
supervision of home schooling do the plaintiffs argue
violate their constitutional rights?
9. What argument do the plaintiffs make that Act 169 is not
a law of general applicability and why does the court reject
that argument?
10. How does the court distinguish the case before it from Wisconsin
v. Yoder?
11. In both Parker and Combs, the
plaintiffs sought to have more control over the education of
their children and unsuccessfully raised claims under the
Free Exercise Clause and the Due Process Clause. What kind
of facts are required for such claims to succeed?
Assignment 12 (Pages 293-306) (Introduction, Weintraub,
Mayer, and Spanierman)
Weintraub v. Board of Education of the City
of New York
1. In Weintraub v. Board of Education of
the City of New York, what were the three categories
of speech that Mr. Weintraub argued resulted in his
termination?
2. Of the three, which is the only one that the court
concludes is not official duty speech under Garcetti?
3. Why do the district court and the court of appeals
conclude that his filing of a formal grievance against his
assistant principal is official duty speech not protected by
the First Amendment?
Mayer
v. Monroe County Community School Corporation
4. In Mayer v. Monroe County Community School
Corporation, what argument does Deborah Mayer make to
try to avoid the “official duty” characterization of Garcetti
that would bar her First Amendment claim?
Spanierman
v. Hughes
5. In Spanierman v. Hughes, what did Mr. Spanierman
do after he was first told by the guidance counselor that
some of the content on his MySpace page was inappropriate?
6. Why does Mr. Spanierman say he was dismissed and why do
the defendants say they dismissed him?
7. In his First Amendment retaliation claim, what three
things does Mr. Spanierman have to prove?
8. Did he demonstrate all three by a preponderance of the
evidence as required to satisfy his burden of proof?
Assignment 13 (Pages 307-335)
(Introduction, Goss v. Lopez, C.Y. v. Lakeview Public
Schools, Introduction to Corporal Punishment, Ingraham v.
Wright, Garcia v. Miera, Payne v. Peninsula Sch. Dist.)
Goss v. Lopez
1. In Goss v. Lopez, was there a pre-suspension
hearing or any other procedure prior to the students being
suspended?
2. According to the Supreme Court, were the students
deprived of life, liberty or property?
3. What kind of procedural due process does the Supreme
Court conclude is required at a minimum prior to a public
school deciding to suspend a student?
4. Are there ever circumstances when a student can be
removed from school without any notice or hearing?
5. Does the length of the suspension matter in terms of the
amount of process that is required?
C.Y.
v. Lakeview Public Schools
6. In deciding what kind of due process is required prior to
the expulsion of a student, what three factors does the
court consider?
Ingraham
v. Wright
7. At common law, how much force could a teacher or school
administrator use to punish a child?
8. Why does the Supreme Court reject Ingraham’s Eighth
Amendment claim?
9. Do students have a substantive due process liberty
interest to be free of corporal punishment?
10. What factors does the Supreme Court consider to
determine if the common law remedies for excessive corporal
punishment are adequate to satisfy the requirements of due
process of law?
11. Are public school students entitled to notice and a
hearing prior to the imposition of physical punishment?
Garcia v. Miera
12. In Garcia v. Miera, what three categories of
corporal punishment does the court identify?
13. According to the court, under what circumstances can
physical punishment of a student by a teacher or school
administrator be a violation of a student’s substantive due
process rights actionable under 42 U.S.C. § 1983?
Payne v. Peninsula School District
14. In Payne v. Peninsula School District, what
standard does the court apply to determine if Jody Coy's use
of the safe room to discipline D.P. violated his substantive
due process rights?