Law & Courts

Education news, analysis, and opinion about court cases, lawsuits, and regulations affecting schools.
  • The Supreme Court building is seen on Thursday, June 13, 2024, in Washington.
    The Supreme Court building is seen on Thursday, June 13, 2024, in Washington.
    Mark Schiefelbein/AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Leaves Biden's Title IX Rule Fully Blocked in 26 States
    The court's action effectively leaves in place broad injunctions blocking the entire regulation in 26 states and at schools in other states.
    Mark Walsh, August 16, 2024
    5 min read
    An LGBTQ+ related book is seen on shelf at Fabulosa Books a store in the Castro District of San Francisco on Thursday, June 27, 2024. "Books Not Bans" is a program initiated and sponsored by the store that sends boxes of LGBTQ+ books to LGBTQ+ organizations in conservative parts of America, places where politicians are demonizing and banning books with LGBTQ+ affirming content.
    An LGBTQ+ book section is seen at Fabulosa Books, a store in San Francisco, on June 27, 2024. A federal appeals court has reinstated an Iowa law that prohibits books depicting sex from public school libraries. Challengers claim the law has led school districts to remove scores of books out of fear of violating the law.
    Haven Daley/AP
    Law & Courts Iowa's Book Ban Is Reinstated by Appeals Court But Case Against It Will Continue
    The Iowa law bars books depicting sex in school libraries and discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in preK-6.
    Mark Walsh, August 9, 2024
    4 min read
    Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, right, speaks alongside Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry during a press conference regarding the Ten Commandments in schools Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Baton Rouge, La. Murrill announced on Monday that she is filing a brief in federal court asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s new law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom.
    Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, right, speaks alongside Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry during an Aug. 5, 2024, press conference in Baton Rouge, La., on the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools. Murrill is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit aiming to overturn the state’s law requiring that they be posted in every classroom.
    Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate via AP
    Law & Courts Louisiana Uses History, Pop Culture to Defend School Ten Commandments Mandate
    Suggested options pair the Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston, Martin Luther King Jr., and Regina George of "Mean Girls."
    Evie Blad, August 7, 2024
    6 min read
    The U.S. Supreme Court is seen on Thursday, June 29, 2023, in Washington.
    The Biden administration's new Title IX regulation was set to take effect Aug. 1, but only in parts of the country as court injunctions block it in 26 states and the U.S. Supreme Court weighs a request to step into the debate.
    AP
    Law & Courts Biden's Title IX Rule Takes Effect Amid a Confusing Legal Landscape
    The rule that expands protections for LGBTQ+ students is effective Aug. 1, but injunctions currently block it in 26 states.
    Mark Walsh, July 31, 2024
    7 min read
    Demonstrators advocating for transgender rights and healthcare stand outside of the Ohio Statehouse, Jan. 24, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. A federal appeals court on Wednesday, July 17, refused to lift a judge's order temporarily blocking the Biden administration’s new Title IX rule meant to expand protections for LGBTQ+ students
    Supporters of transgender rights and healthcare stand outside of the Ohio Statehouse on Jan. 24, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. A federal appeals court has refused to block an Ohio school district's policy that bars students from intentionally misgendering classmates by using pronouns that don't align with students' gender identity.
    Patrick Orsagos/AP
    Law & Courts A District's Rule Against Misgendering Students Is Likely Constitutional
    A federal appeals court did not block a policy barring students from using pronouns that don't align with a classmate's gender identity.
    Mark Walsh, July 30, 2024
    4 min read
    The Supreme Court is seen, April 21, 2023, in Washington.
    The Supreme Court is seen, April 21, 2023, in Washington. A recent decision from the high court overruled a longtime precedent that called on courts to defer to federal agencies' reasonable interpretations of federal laws. The decision could lead to more challenges to U.S. Department of Education regulations, legal experts say.
    Alex Brandon/AP
    Law & Courts Not Just Title IX: How the Chevron Decision Could Affect Education Regulations
    The Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision could have an impact on Education Department rules interpreting multiple federal laws.
    Mark Walsh, July 25, 2024
    7 min read
    The Supreme Court building is seen on Friday, June 28, 2024, in Washington.
    The Supreme Court building is seen on Friday, June 28, 2024, in Washington. The Biden administration on July 22 asked the justices to allow parts of the new Title IX regulation to go into effect even as provisions on gender identity remain blocked.
    Mark Schiefelbein/AP
    Law & Courts Biden Admin. Asks Supreme Court to Allow Part of Title IX Rule to Take Effect
    The solicitor general asks that most of new Title IX rule be allowed to go into effect, even as gender-identity provisions remain blocked
    Mark Walsh, July 22, 2024
    3 min read
    Kansas high school students, family members and advocates rally for transgender rights, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan.
    Kansas high school students, family members and advocates rally for transgender rights, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. Two federal appeals courts have denied requests by the Biden administration to put aside injunctions blocking a new Title IX regulation that includes protections for transgender students.
    John Hanna/AP
    Law & Courts Two Appeals Courts Won’t Block Injunctions Against Biden's Title IX Rule
    As the Aug. 1 date approaches for the broad new regulation to take effect, courts have blocked it in much of the country.
    Mark Walsh, July 19, 2024
    4 min read
    Education Week opinion letters submissions
    Gwen Keraval for Education Week
    Law & Courts Letter to the Editor Religion in the Classroom May Be Legal, But Is It Just?
    A teacher responds to Louisiana's Ten Commandments law.
    July 16, 2024
    1 min read
    Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signs bills related to his education plan on June 19, 2024, at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Lafayette, La. Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom, the latest move from a GOP-dominated Legislature pushing a conservative agenda under a new governor.
    Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, signs bills related to his education plan on June 19, 2024, at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School in Lafayette, La. One of those new laws requires that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom, but the law is similar to one from Kentucky that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down in 1980.
    Brad Bowie/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP
    Law & Courts Posting Ten Commandments in Schools Was Struck Down in 1980. Could That Change?
    In 1980, the justices invalidated a Kentucky law, similar to the new Louisiana measure, requiring classroom displays of the Decalogue.
    Mark Walsh, July 11, 2024
    13 min read
    Kansas high school students, family members and advocates rally for transgender rights, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. On Tuesday, July 2, a federal judge in Kansas blocked a federal rule expanding anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students from being enforced in four states, including Kansas and a patchwork of places elsewhere across the nation.
    Kansas high school students, family members and advocates rally for transgender rights, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. On Tuesday, July 2, a federal judge in Kansas blocked a federal rule expanding anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students from being enforced in four states, including Kansas, and a patchwork of places elsewhere across the nation.
    John Hanna/AP
    Law & Courts Biden's Title IX Rule Is Now Blocked in 14 States
    A judge in Kansas issued the third injunction against the Biden administration's rule granting protections to LGBTQ+ students.
    Libby Stanford, July 3, 2024
    4 min read
    The United States Supreme Court is seen in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2024.
    The U.S. Supreme Court is seen in Washington, D.C., on July 1, 2024. The high court declined on July 2 to take up a case about whether Snapchat could be held partially liable for a teacher's sexual abuse of a student.
    Aashish Kiphayet/NurPhoto via AP
    Law & Courts Student Says Snapchat Enabled Teacher's Abuse. Supreme Court Won't Hear His Case
    The high court, over a dissent by two justices, decline to review the scope of Section 230 liability protection for social media platforms.
    Mark Walsh, July 2, 2024
    4 min read
    Visitors pose for photographs at the U.S. Supreme Court on June 18, 2024, in Washington.
    Visitors pose for photographs at the U.S. Supreme Court on June 18, 2024, in Washington. The high court on June 28 overruled a longtime precedent and held that courts, not federal agencies, have the primary authority to interpret ambiguous federal statutes.
    Jose Luis Magana/AP
    Law & Courts What the Supreme Court's Chevron Decision Could Mean for Biden's Title IX Rule
    The decision overrules a 40-year-old precedent and could impact lawsuits challenging the final Title IX rule.
    Mark Walsh, June 28, 2024
    5 min read
    The Oklahoma Supreme Court is pictured in the state Capitol building in Oklahoma City, May 19, 2014. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, June 25, 2024, that the approval of the nation's first state-funded Catholic charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School, is unconstitutional.
    The Oklahoma Supreme Court is pictured in the state Capitol building in Oklahoma City, May 19, 2014. The high court ruled Tuesday, June 25, 2024, that the approval of the nation's first state-funded Catholic charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual Charter School, is unconstitutional.
    Sue Ogrocki/AP
    Law & Courts Religious Charter School Is Unconstitutional, Oklahoma Supreme Court Rules
    The state high court says the planned Catholic virtual charter school violates a state provision against aid to 'sectarian' institutions.
    Mark Walsh, June 25, 2024
    4 min read
    FILE - The Supreme Court is seen under stormy skies in Washington, June 20, 2019. In the coming days, the Supreme Court will confront a perfect storm mostly of its own making, a trio of decisions stemming directly from the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
    The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a case about a state law that bars certain medical care for transgender minors, with the legal issues holding potential implications for schools.
    J. Scott Applewhite/AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Case on Transgender Youth Medical Care May Impact Schools
    The justices will decide whether a Tennessee law that bars certain treatments for transgender minors violates the equal-protection clause.
    Mark Walsh, June 24, 2024
    5 min read