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• Strip search of student unconstitutional, but school officials immune from suit [HTML 7,750kb]
  The U.S. Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, has ruled that a strip search of an Arizona student violated her Fourth Amendment right to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, but concluded that school officials were entitled to qualified immunity from her lawsuit because her rights were not clearly established at the time.
  
• Doran v. Contoocook Valley Sch. Dist., No. 07-307 (D. N.H. Mar. 25, 2009) [HTML 3,583kb]
  A U.S. district court in New Hampshire has ruled that the use of drug sniffing dogs by police to conduct a drug sweep of a high school, which encompassed such personal items as student backpacks and purses, did not constitute a search implicating students’ Fourth Amendment rights.
  
• Corder v. Lewis Palmer Sch. Dist. No. 38, No. 08-1293 (10th Cir. May 29, 2009) [HTML 5,055kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (CO, KS, NM, OK, UT, WY) has ruled that a Colorado school district did not violate a student’s free speech rights by requiring her to submit her valedictory speech for prior review or by withholding her diploma until she apologized for disregarding the policy.
  
• Brown v. Shasta Union High Sch. Dist., No. 164933 (Cal. Super. Ct. May, 6, 2009) [HTML 3,097kb]
  A California state superior court has issued a preliminary injunction barring Shasta Union High School District (SUHSD) from enforcing a policy that requires students to submit to mandatory drug testing as a condition of participating in “competitive representational activities” (CRAs), which in practice includes not only extracurricular activities but also mandated curricular classes and co-curricular activities that are required and used for grading purposes in the mandated classes.
  
• Blunt v. Lower Merion Sch. Dist., No. 07-3100 (E.D. Pa. May 7, 2009) [HTML 1,779kb]
  A U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania has ruled that plaintiffs in a class action suit alleging systemic racial discrimination have the right to educational records and data for students enrolled in the defendant school district, even over the objections of those students and their parents that the federal Family Educational and Privacy Rights Act (FERPA) protects such records from disclosure.
  
• C.F. v. Capistrano Unified Sch. Dist., No. 07-1434 (C.D. Cal. May 1, 2009) [HTML 4,156kb]
  A U.S. district court in California has ruled in an unreported opinion that a high school teacher violated the Establishment Clause when he stated in class that creationism is “superstitious nonsense.”
  
• Harper v. Poway Unified Sch. Dist., No. 07-55224 (9th Cir. Mar. 10, 2009) [HTML 4,139kb]
  In a brief memorandum opinion in a case involving a California district that restricted a T-shirt that expressed religious objections to homosexuality, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA, GU, MP) has ruled that two high school students’ First Amendment claims for equitable and declaratory relief are moot and that school officials are entitled to qualified immunity from their First Amendment claims for nominal damages.
  
• R.O. v. Ithaca City Sch. Dist., No. 05-695 (N.D. N.Y. Mar. 23, 2009) [HTML 5,297kb]
  A federal district court in New York has ruled that school officials did not violate students’ free speech when they refused to allow the student newspaper to run a sexually explicit cartoon accompanying an article about sex education.
  
• Brown v. Cabell County Bd. of Educ., No. 09-0279 (S.D. W.Va. Mar. 30, 2009) [HTML 2,493kb]
  A U.S. district court in West Virginia has denied a preliminary injunction to a student prohibited by school officials from expressing support for a friend accused of shooting a police officer.
  
• Dempsey v. Alston, A- 4975-06T34975-06T3 (N.J. Super., App. Div. Mar. 5, 2009) [HTML 7,689kb]
  The New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, has ruled that a state law allowing local school boards to adopt a uniform dress codes is not unconstitutional on its face or as applied because the law failed to require local boards to include an opt-out provision in their codes.
  
• Gay-Straight Alliance of Yulee High Sch. v. School Bd. of Nassau County, No. 09-112 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 11, 2009) [HTML 4,176kb]
  A federal district court in Florida has granted a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) student club’s request for a preliminary injunction to bar Nassau County School District (NCSD) officials from denying the GSA equal access to school facilities, treatment and recognition.
  
• Doninger v. Niehoff, No. 07-1129 (D. Conn. Jan. 15, 2009) [HTML 7,632kb]
  A U.S. district court in Connecticut has ruled that school officials who barred a student from running for senior class secretary after she posted vulgar and derogatory remarks about the school district administration on her off-campus blog did not violate her First Amendment free speech rights or her Fourteenth Amendment equal protection rights.
  
• BWA v. Farmington R-7 Sch. Dist., No. 07-3099 (8th Cir. Jan. 30, 2009) [HTML 4,452kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (AR, IA, MN, MO, ND, NE, SD) has ruled that a Missouri school district’s ban on the display of Confederate flag did not violate students’ First Amendment free speech rights, because school officials could reasonably forecast “substantial disruption” based on prior race-related incidents.
  
• Bellevue Sch. Dist. v. E.S., No. 60528-3-1 (Wash. App. Jan. 12, 2009) [HTML 3,262kb]
  The Washington Court of Appeals has ruled that a student has a due process right to legal counsel at the initial proceeding over a truancy petition. At an initial juvenile court hearing over a truancy petition by Bellevue School District (BSD) against 13-year-old E.S., BSD’s truancy coordinator indicated that E.S. and her mother had agreed to proceed without a hearing.
  
• Dean v. Utica Community Schools, 2004 WL 2651236 (E.D.Mich. November 17, 2004) [HTML 2,766kb]
  A federal district court in Michigan has ruled that school district officials violated a student's right to free speech when they prohibited her high school newspaper from publishing her article about a lawsuit pending against the school district over fumes from the district bus garage.
  
• Copper ex rel. Copper v. Denlinger, No. COA07-205 (N.C. App., Oct. 21, 2008) [HTML 4,323kb]
  The North Carolina Court of Appeals last month remanded to a trial court a case involving a claim that a school district’s anti-gang policy is unconstitutionally vague.
  
• Miller v. Penn Manor Sch. Dist., No. 08-273 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 30, 2008) [HTML 6,148kb]
  An U.S. district court in Pennsylvania has ruled that a school district’s policy prohibiting student expression that promotes violence was not unconstitutionally overbroad or vague.
  
• M.A.L. v. Kinsland, No. 07-1409 (6th Cir. Oct. 7, 2008) [HTML 5,584kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for Sixth Circuit (KY, MI, OH, TN) has ruled that a Michigan school district’s time, place, and manner restrictions on distribution of student materials in school did not violate a student’s free speech rights because those restriction were reasonable.
  
• J.S. v. Blue Mountain Sch. Dist., No. 07-585 (M.D. Pa. Sept. 11, 2008) [HTML 5,681kb]
  A U.S. district court in Pennsylvania has ruled that school officials did not violate a student’s free speech rights by disciplining her for creating a parody online profile of her principal.
  
• SAGE v. Osseo Area Sch. - Dist. No. 279, No. 07-3576 (8th Cir. Aug. 29, 2008) [HTML 3,450kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (AR, IA, MN, MO, ND, NE, SD) has upheld a Minnesota federal district court’s order affording a gay student club the same access provided to other noncurricular high school clubs.
  
• Lowry v. Watson Chapel Sch. Dist., Nos. 07-3437/08-1139 (8th Cir. Sept. 2, 2008) [HTML 3,999kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (AR, IA, MN, MO, ND, NE, SD) has ruled that an Arkansas school district violated students’ First Amendment free speech rights by banning their wearing of arm bands at school in protest of the district’s dress code.
  
• Barr v. Lafon, No. 07-5743 (6th Cir. Aug. 20, 2008) [HTML 8,103kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (KY, MI, OH, TN) has ruled that a Tennessee high school’s policy prohibiting Confederate flag symbols does not violate students’ free speech, equal protection, or due process rights.
  
• Riehm v. Engelking, No. 07-1517 (8th Cir. Aug. 15, 2008) [HTML 5,477kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for Eighth Circuit (AR, IA, MN, MO, ND, NE, SD) has ruled that a Minnesota high school student’s essay depicting a student’s murder of a teacher and suicide constituted a “true threat” and was not protected speech under the First Amendment.
  
• Gonzalez v. Sch. Bd. of Okeechobee County, No. 06-14320 (S.D. Fla. July 29, 2008) [HTML 5,803kb]
  A U.S. district court in Florida has ruled that a high school Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) is entitled to official recognition as a noncurricular student group under the federal Equal Access Act (EAA).
  
• Gillman v. Sch. Bd. for Holmes County, Fla., No. 08-34 (N.D. Fla. July 24, 2008) [HTML 6,195kb]
  A U.S. district court in Florida has ruled that a high school principal’s decision, later ratified by the school board, to prohibit students from displaying messages or wearing symbols advocating acceptance of gay people violated the students’ First Amendment right to free speech.
  
• Frazier v. Winn, No. 06-14462 (11th Cir. July 23, 2008) [HTML 3,641kb]
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (AL, FL, GA) has struck down a Florida state law that it found requires all students to stand at attention during the Pledge of Allegiance, even those excused from reciting the Pledge.
  
• Redding v. Safford Unified Sch. Dist. #1, No. 05-15759 (9th Cir. July 11, 2008) [HTML 6,621kb]
  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 strip search of a middle school student was unconstitutional and that school officials are not entitled to qualified immunity because it was a clearly established such a search violates the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures.
  
• 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 6,750kb]
  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 6,132kb]
  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 4,167kb]
  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 5,392kb]
  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 2,490kb]
  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 8,699kb]
  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 7,532kb]
  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 10,460kb]
  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 4,322kb]
  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 3,865kb]
  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 6,417kb]
  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 7,073kb]
  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 3,375kb]
  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.