The New York Times reported today that wealthier families are much more likely to have their child qualified for a 504 plan. Psychologists cost money, noted the Times, and parents with means can afford to hire them for an evaluation. As a result, students in Weston...
A Title IX attorney will advise that as of today schools in Connecticut will not violate federal law if they tell transgender students to use the bathroom of the sex they were born with. Title IX itself says nothing about the choice. Starting in 1972 it simply...
This month the Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving “disruption” of activities at school. Most cases on “disruption” feature a student appealing his suspension for breaking the school’s policy on bad language or risky behavior. In this one a grown man...
For years students in Bridgeport, Hartford and other cities have gone to court to find a way to get the education their local public schools never gave them. In September United States District Court judge Alvin Thompson ruled that at least in federal court, students...
Last week a federal district judge ruled that students in Detroit could not sue their governor for the shabbiness of their schools. They claimed that the United States Constitution guaranteed them a chance to read and write. Their poor schools denied them that right,...
The tragedy of Sandy Hook in 2012 keeps making waves in the law. Two years ago a judge ruled in favor of the Remington gun company. Last week a Superior Court judge in New Haven ruled in favor of the town of Newtown. The parents of two victims had sued the town and...
We seem to see a story in the news every week of a school taking steps against a bomb or gun scare. Connecticut is one of five states with a system already in place to help schools and the police respond. Since 2011 police in Connecticut have been able to obtain a...
This week an 11-year old Fifth Grader in Illinois was allowed to take her medical marijuana to school. Diagnosed with leukemia, the girl had undergone chemotherapy that led to daily seizures. She applied marijuana at home in foot patches and rubbing oil. It brought...
Professional players’ protest of the national anthem is old news. But last month a high school football player protested in the same way at his California school’s games. Unlike the pros, he needed a court order to allow him to exercise his First Amendment right. He...
Most people would think twice before they used handcuffs on a child. They would hesitate to use them on an eight-year old. They would never think of applying them above the child’s elbows. Yet last month a federal appeals court in Kentucky held that the parents of...