Zoning

Zoning and land use laws promote the common good in attempting to balance the authority of officials in local municipalities to control the impact of growth and development of college and university campuses in and near their communities with the interests of the educational institutions.

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Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind

Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind (1986) addressed the question of whether a student’s use of state disability funds at a religious college would violate the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

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Widmar v. Vincent

In Widmar v. Vincent (1981), the U.S. Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of a state university regulation that prohibited the use of campus facilities by religious student groups.

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Video Surveillance

Video surveillance uses video cameras to transmit data to monitors or recording devices and is designed to observe people in a variety of settings.

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U.S. Supreme Court Cases in Higher Education

The relationship between the law and higher education institutions, as well as that between the law and those institutions’ faculties, students, administrations, and governing boards, has changed dramatically throughout the history of higher education in the United States.

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U.S. Department of Education

The United States Department of Education (ED) serves as the federal agency charged with addressing education-related issues.

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Urofsky v. Gilmore

The case of Urofsky v. Gilmore (2000) involved a statute from Virginia that forbade public employees from accessing sexually explicit material on the Internet on publicly owned or leased computers, except in conjunction with bona fide research projects.

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University of Pennsylvania v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

In University of Pennsylvania v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC, 1990), the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear that university officials do not have a special legal privilege that allows them to refuse to release administratively and judicially requested materials in disputes about tenure.

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United States v. Virginia

United States v. Virginia (1996) is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case concerning the ability of state officials to maintain public single-sex institutions of higher education.

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Unions on Campus

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, in part, prohibits Congress from enacting laws restricting the right of people to assemble peacefully.

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Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward

Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) stands out not only because it was the U.S. Supreme Court’s first case dealing with a dispute involving education but also because it provided constitutional protections for private contracts, albeit in an educational context.

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Title IX and Sexual Harassment

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 forbids gender discrimination by any educational institution, public or private, that receives federal funds, and the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted Title IX to prohibit sexual harassment whether by individuals or institutions.

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Title IX and Retaliation

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education, rendered a sharply divided opinion in deciding that employees who report gender discrimination in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and are retaliated against as a result of their complaints can seek redress for retaliation under Title IX.

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Title IX and Athletics

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits public and private educational institutions that receive federal funds from discriminating because of gender in any aspect of their operations.

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Title VII

Congress enacted a series of antidiscrimination statutes in the 1960s and 1970s that were designed to combat widespread discrimination in the workplace.

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