And Others TITLE Student Litigation: a Compilation and Analysis of Civil
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 210 169 EA 014 218 -AUTHOR- Marvelli Thomas; And Others TITLE Student Litigation: A Compilation andAnalysis of Civil Cases Involving Students,1977-1981, INSTITUTION National Center for State Courts, Williaisburg, Va. SPCNS AGENCY EXXON Education Foundation, New York,N.Y.; National . Inst. of Education (ED), Washington,E.C. DOB DATE (81] GRANT NIE-G-80-0137 NOTE 209p. EDRS PRICE NFO1 /PC09 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Athletics: *Court Litigation;Disabilities; Discipline; Educational Malpractice;Elementary. Secondary Education: Equal Protection;*Federal Courts; Federal Legislation; Freedom ofSpeech; Minimum Competency Testing; Religion;*School Law; Special Education; *State Courts IDENTIFIERS Education'for All Handicapped ChildrenAct ABSTRACT This book is a study of civilcapes, filed in court after 1976, involving students in elementaryand high schools,. The number of cases comes to 1,632, of which769 are concerned,with special education, 290 with disciplinarymatters, and 248 with spoits, The remaining'cases deal with racial and sex discrimination, freedom of religion, establishment ofreligion, freedox of speech, "and' other subjects. The studydoes not include cases involving teachers or college students, ordinary personalinjury cases, or criminal and juvenile actions. The catalogforms the bulk of the book, listing cases alphabetically bystate. Each case entry is preceded by one or more code numbersindicating the type cf issue (organized under the topics mentionedabove into 54 sub - categories).. The case entries provide informationabout the name and procedural history of each case, the issues, and theplaintiffs, attorneys. Other sections of the catalog explainthe proceduret used tc find the cases and attempt to estimate the c:mpleteness ofthe compilation. Additional statistical information providedin the study includes the incidence of cases of each type in eachstate, the number of cases filed by students or by schools, thetypes of attorneys, the number of filings by year, and the outcomes cfthe cases, (Author/AM ***************t******************************************************* Reproductions supplied by EDRSare the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Of !DUCATS= INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION I. RESCURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) his been reproduced se from the pawn a organization k. Minot changes hove Wan mad, to Improve 4%- reproduction wean. Points ct view or opinions stated in this docu- ment do not nwatarly regiment official ME poWtion or policy. STUDENT LITIGATION A Compilation and Analysis of Civil Cases Involving Students 1977-1981 by ThomaiMarvell, Armand Galfo, and John Rockwell with the assistance of Linda .Coppinger, Pamela Gersh, Beatrice Monahan, Michael Nardolilli, Robert A. Rausch, and Barbara Zaremba A Publication of the National Center for State Courts a A z National Center for State Courts 300 'Newport Avenue Williamsburg," Virginia 23185 This publication was supported by Gran%No.-NIE -G-80 -0137, awarded to the National Center for State Courts bythe National Institute of Edudation of the U.S'. Department of Education,and by a grant from the Exxon Education Foundation. Opinions stated in this documentare those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the officialposition. of the U.S. Department of Education, the Exxon Education Foundation,or the National Center for State Courts. NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATE COURTS The National Center for State Courts is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the improvement of justice at the stateand local level and the modernization of court operations. It functions as an extension of the state court systems, working for them at their direction andproviding for them an effective voice in matters of national importance. In carrying out its purpose, theNational Center"thus acts as a focal point for state judicial reform, serves as a catalyst for setting and implementing standardsof fair and expeditious judicia- administration, and finds and disseminatesanswers to the problems of state judicial systems. In sum, the National Center provides the means for reinvesting in all states the profitsgained from judicial advances in any state. Offices Headquarters- and Mid-Atlantic--Region---------- North-Central Region 300 Newport Avenue American National Bank Building Williamsburg, Virginia23185 St. Paul, Minnesota55101 Northeastern Region WesternRegion 723 Osgood Street .720 Sacramento Street North Andover, Massachusetts 01845 San Francisco, California 94108 Southern Regior Washington Office 1600 Tullie Circle, N.E. 2030 M Street, N.W. Atlanta, Georgia 30329 WashingtougfmD.C. 20036 Board of Directors Honorable Theodore R. Newman, Jr. Mr. A. Linwood Holton, Jr. Chief Judge, District of Columbia Vice President and General Counsel Court of Appeals, President American Council of Life Insurance Mr. Lester Earl Cingcade HonorableWilfred W. Nuernberger Administrative Director of the Judge, Separate Juvenile Court Courts, Hawaii, Vice President of Lancaster County, Nebraska Honorable B. Don Barnes Honorable Jay A. Rabinowitz Justice, Supreme Court of Oklahoma Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Alaska Honorable Albert W. Barney Honorable John T. Racanelli Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Vermont Presiding Justice, California Honorable Dorothy T. Beasley Court of Appeal, First District Judge, State Court of Honorable William S. Richardson Fulton County, Georgia Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Hawaii Honorar,e George C. Berry Honorable Kaliste J. Saloom, Jr. Judge, Probate Court, Missouri Judge, City Court of Lafayette, Honorable Robert C. Broomfield Louisiana Presiding Judge, Superior Court of Honorable Leo M. Spellaey Maricopa County, Arizona Presiding Judge, Court of Common Honorable Lawrence H. Cooke Pleas of Cuyahoga County, Ohio Chief Judge, Court of Appeals of New YorkMr. Charles H. Starrett, Jr. ;Ionorable Mercedes F. Deiz Court Administrator, Court of Common Judge, Circuit Court of Oregon Pleas, Allegheny Cou?te0Pennsylvania Mr. Haliburton Fales, II Mr. James D. Thomas White and Case, New York State Court Administrator, Colorado Honorable Roland J. Farley. Honorable Joseph R. Weisberger Judge, Municipal Court of Justice, Supreme Court of Rhode Island Ramsey County, Minnesota Honorable Robert A. Wenke Honorable Joe R. Greenhill Judge, Superior Court of the State of Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Texas California for the County of Los Angeles iii 4 Table of Contents Page 1. INTRODUCTION n I 2. DESCRIPTION OF CASES IN THE CATALOG 2 3. DESCRIPTION OF ENTRIES IN THE CATALOG 3 4. DESCRIPTION OF ISSUES IN THE CATALOG 5 5. PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF CASES 16 6. CASE SEARCH PROCEDURES 24 7. ESTIMATES OF COMPLETENESS 26 8. CATALOG OF CASES 31 Tables and List 1. Issue Categories R-9 7 2. Incidence of Issues in Each State 8 3. Number of Cases and of Major Types in Each State 17 4. Status of Cases 19 5. Types of Plaintiff Attorney 0 20 6. Years When Cases Were Filed 22 7. Year of Filing by State 23 8. Areas Where Information is Particularly Incomplete 27 9. List of Published Sources of Information About Education Cases Involving nudents 29 States Alabama 31 Montana 127 Alaska 32 Nebraska 128 Arizona 33 Nevada 132 Arkansas 35 New Hampshire . 133 California 37 New Jersey 134 Colorado 47 New Mexico 137 Connecticut 49 New York 137 Delaware 54 North Carolina . 151 District of Columbia 55 North Dakota . 154 Florida 59 Ohio 155 Georgia 63 Oklahoma 160 Hawaii . 67 Oregon 164' Idaho '69 Pennsylvania 166 Illinois 70 Rhode Island . 173 Indiana 80 South Carolina . 175 Iowa 85 South Dakota . 177 Kansas 87 Tennessee 178 Kentucky 88 Texas e 182 Louisiana 90 Utah 190 Maine 93 Vermont 191 Maryland 95 Virginia 192 Massachusetts 99 Washington 198 Michigan 112 West Virginia . 200 Minnesota 119 Wisconsin 201 Mississippi 121 Wyoming 204 Missouri 123 iv 1. INTRODUCTION _This book is a_study_of civil cases, filed in court after 1976, involving students in elementary and high schools. The catalog of such cases comes to 1,632, of which 769 are concerned with special education, 290 with disciplinary matters, and 248 with sports. The remaining cases deal with racial and sex discrimination, freedom of religion, establishment of religion, freedom of speech, and many other subjects. The study does not include cases involving teachers or college students, ordinary personal injury cases, or criminal and juvenile actions. The catalog forms the bulk of the book, listing cases alphabetically by state; each case entry is preceded by one or more code numbers indicating the type of issue. The compilation was uWertaken-for-two-reasoW--The h_rst_was_to discover how frequently the various issues concerning students are being litigated.Most government officials and attorneys in the education field have limited knowledge about the frequency and' scope of such litigation in their 'states. Many disputes are locales and because they only involve local school boards, local courts, and local attorneys, they are little known outside the particular town or school district. The second reason for gathering the cases was one important to the National Center for State Courts as an organization devoted to improving court structure and operation. We are studying attorneys' selection of courts--how often they choose state courts as opposed to federal courts, why they choose one forum or the-tether, and what this tells us about areas for improvement. This topic will Be explored More fully in a second report, to be issued later. The study of forum choice,