Student Speech in Public SAchools

Over at the First Amendment Center, David Hudson has a memo analyzing free speech in the public schools--How free is student speech?

Voluntary Accommodation

This is what any decent school district should do. From the Religion Clause blog:

School Board Grants Uniform Exemption On Religious Grounds For 2nd Grader

The Irving, Texas school board this week, by a vote of 6-1, reversed the decision of an elementary school principal and granted a mother's request that her 7-year old daughter be allowed to wear her shirt untucked for religious reasons. Thursday's Dallas Morning News reported that Dyker Neyland says her second grader needs to wear her shirt tail out to comply with the Biblical requirement for modest dress found in 1 Timothy 2:9. The school's rule is part of its dress requirement for students. Before the vote, Neyland told the Board that she thought she was "being persecuted for being a Christian."

Suppose instead of a "shirt tucking" rule, the school had a "no headgear inside" rule. Should the school exempt a Jewish boy who wished to wear a yarmulke or a Muslim girl who wished to wear a head scarf?

But suppose the school is unwilling to accommodate the religious dress requirement. Does the First Amendment require an accommodation? Forbid an accommodation? Query?

This Term's Reverse Discrimination Case

Here are several posts from How Appealing:

1. "Court divided on reverse discrimination claims": Mark Sherman of The Associated Press has this report. Update: You can access the transcript of today's U.S. Supreme Court oral argument in Ricci v. DeStefano, No. 07-1428, by clicking here.

2. "Supreme Court looks at race factor in hiring and promotions; Justices hear an appeal by white firefighters from Connecticut, who say their promotional exam results were thrown out when officials realized it would mean no black colleagues would be promoted": David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times has this news update. And this evening's broadcast of NPR's "All Things Considered" contained an audio segment entitled "Justices Weigh Bias In Promotions Test" (RealPlayer required) featuring Nina Totenberg.

3. "Justices Explore Role Race May Play in Employment": Adam Liptak has this article today in The New York Times.

Today in The Washington Post, Robert Barnes reports that "Justices Weigh Anti-Bias Move's Impact on Whites." In addition, columnist Dana Milbank has a "Washington Sketch" essay entitled "The Supremes Sing the Oldies."

David G. Savage of The Los Angeles Times reports that "Supreme Court weighs race in hiring and promotions; The justices hear an appeal by white firefighters from Connecticut, who say their exam results were thrown out when city officials realized it would mean no black colleagues would be promoted."

Joan Biskupic of USA Today reports that "Court tackles racial bias in work promotions; White firefighters allege discrimination."

In The Wall Street Journal, Jess Bravin reports that "High Court Weighs Bias in Firefighters' Test."

Warren Richey of The Christian Science Monitor reports that "Reverse-discrimination case splits Supreme Court; Justice Kennedy appears to be the tiebreaking vote on whether New Haven, Conn., discriminated against white firefighters."

The Hartford Courant reports that "U.S. Supreme Court Hears New Haven Firefighters' Reverse Discrimination Arguments."

law.com's Tony Mauro reports that "All Eyes on Kennedy in Firefighters Discrimination Case at High Court."

And The Yale Daily News reports that "Race bias case divides Court."

And here is a piece I wrote about the same issue almost 20 years ago: White Firefighters, Hank Aaron, and Affirmative Action

9th Circuit Incorporates 2d Amendment

Even a broken clock is correct twice a day.

Here is a post from the Faculty Lounge blog:

The Ninth [Circuit] just decided Nordyke v. King. In so doing the court ruled that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the individual Second Amendment right that was found to exist in DC v. Heller. The Ninth Ciruit concluded that an individual right to firearms possession was deeply rooted in our national hsitory and tradition; thus, the Second Amendment guarantee applies to the states. Alameda County, California enacted an ordinance forbidding firearms possession on county property, thus precluding private gun shows that had been held on the county fairgrounds. Although the Second Amendment right applied to the county, its ordinance did not "directly impede the efficacy of self-defense" and so did not violate the right.