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Lawlines

Justice Matters, and Justices Matter

by V. Wayne Young, Executive Director

As I write this column, the Senate hearings on the confirmation of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the United States have just begun. For most ordinary citizens who are not lawyers, media-types, or political junkies, this is just a mildly interesting news story. But school administrators ought to have more than a passing level of interest in the outcome.

Many of the duties and obligations (burdens?) placed upon schools in the past four decades have come about not as a result of legislative action, but rather from rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court. Free speech, special education, religious issues, and student discipline matters have all been affected far more by judicial decision than by legislative enactment.

The appointment of the Chief Justice (and, don’t forget, a second vacancy on the court will be filled as well) will play a significant role in school law decisions for the next 30 years or more. One need only look at the cases pending before the highest court in the land for its 2005-06 term to realize just how far-reaching some of those decisions might be.

Among the issues the court will consider in its upcoming term:
* A case defining “educational benefit” for the purposes of providing services under IDEA;
* Sovereign immunity issues for school boards and board employees;
* The implementation of “stay put” provisions under IDEA;
* Religious discrimination by a public school district in refusing to hire a teacher whose child
attended a private parochial school;
* Due process required in the dismissal of a superintendent;
* School-ordered removal of religious symbols from a mural painted by a student as part of a
school beautification project;
* Denial of campus access to military recruiters;
* Overtime pay for employees of an educational institution.

Several of these cases have the potential to significantly impact the way schools work. School leaders should have a profound interest in both the qualifications and the judicial philosophy of those who are appointed to the nation’s highest court.

-10/05/2005