Landmark Supreme Court Cases

There are countless Supreme Court cases that have dealt with education throughout history. Here are the biggies:

Dealing with free speech:

• Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) - school district overturned after suspending the Tinker children for wearing black armbands protesting Vietnam
• Island Trees School District v. Pico (1982) - Four students sued the school and won, upon removal of books from the library due to censorship
• Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986) - Fraser was suspended after delivering a disruptive and inappropriate speech; the SC backed the school.

Student Discipline

• Goss v. Lopez (1975) - high school students sued upon being suspended with denial of due proscess. The SC ruled that the 14th amendment applies to schools too.
• Ingrahm v. Wright (1977) - dealing with a case of corporal punishment in schools after a student was paddled several times and required medical attention. The SC ruled paddling was not a form of corporal punishment.

Student Newspaper

• Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988) - SC held that the school did not violate first amendment by restricting certain articals from being printed because they were inappropriate.

Search and Seizure

• New Jersey v T.L.O. (1984) - court ruled that a school can search a student upon reasonable suspicion after searching a girl's purse and finding drugs, money, and rolling paper.

Civil Rights

• Plessey v Ferguson (1896) - Supreme Court ruled seperate but equal facilities were constitutional.
• Brown v Board of Ed. Topeka Kansas (1954) - Court overturned seperate but equal and ordered integration.

Affirmative Action

• University of California Regents v Bakke (1976)- a white male was rejected from college even though he was more qualified because the school was trying to meet minority quotas. The court ruled these quotas unconstitutional.

Religion

• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) - Court ruled that children can't be forced to say the pledge
• Engle v Vitale (1962) -Court upheld the establishment clause and ruled school prayer unconstitutional.
• Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) - Court delt with the separation of church and state, deciding what federal funds could be used towards in religious schools.