Education Commons^™

Religious Freedom In Faith-Based Educational Institutions In The Wake Of 'Obergefell V. Hodges': Believers Beware, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Solicitor General Donald Verrilli’s fateful words, uttered in response to a question posed by Justice Samuel Alito during oral arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges,² likely sent chills up the spines of leaders in faith-based educational institutions, from pre-schools to universities. In Obergefell, a bare majority of the Supreme Court legalized same-sex unions in the United States. Verrilli’s words, combined with the outcome in Obergefell, have a potentially chilling effect on religious freedom. The decision does not only impact educational institutions—the primary focus of this article—but also a wide array of houses of worship. Other religiously affiliated …

'Mergens V. Westside Community Schools' At Twenty-Five And 'Christian Legal Society V. Martinez': From Live And Let Live To My Way Or The Highway?, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The United States Congress passed the Equal Access Act (EAA)¹ and forwarded it to President Ronald W. Reagan, who signed it into law on August 11, 1984.² The EAA was enacted in response to Widmar v. Vincent, ³ a 1980 Supreme Court case from higher education where the Justices ushered in a renaissance of sorts in religious liberty. In Widmar, treating religious expression as a subset of free speech,⁴ the Court ruled that officials at a state university in Missouri could not deny a Christian group access to institutional facilities so long as the university permitted other …

The Law Of Public Education, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

This textbook-casebook incorporates recent developments in education law into its conceptual framework by offering updated analysis of major topics in education law. With new material in all of its sixteen chapters, the book includes significant updates on church-state relations, employee rights, and student rights. There are now two chapters on student rights. The author also includes Supreme Court opinions on strip searches of students, teacher bargaining and free speech rights.

Religious Freedom In A Brave New World: How Leaders In Faith-Based Schools Can Follow Their Beliefs In Hiring, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

A confluence of litigation at the Supreme Court raises important, yet potentially conflicting, questions about the freedom of employers in religious schools¹ to hire teachers and staff members. On the one hand, in Hosanna-Tabor v. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission,² a unanimous Court reasoned that the ministerial exception granted religious leaders alone the authority to choose who is qualified to teach in their schools. On the other hand, the Court’s rulings on same sex-unions seem to be ushering in a brave new world. For example, in United States v. Windsor,³ the Court struck down the Defense …

Religious Freedom In The United States: ‘When You Come To A Fork In The Road, Take It', Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

As expansive as the Supreme Court’s view of the First Amendment religion clauses has been, its jurisprudence has demonstrated that its rulings do not always achieve the outcomes desired by proponents of religious freedom.³ From the perspective of supporters of religious freedom, this realization lends credence to the preceding wry comment by Justice Scalia. This article details the Court’s inconsistent treatment of Christianity, and people of faith broadly, especially in educational settings. These inconsistent judicial outcomes run the risk of increasingly marginalizing matters of faith and conscience in the public square.⁴ As discussed in this article, disputes over …

Reutter’S The Law Of Public Education, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

This textbook-casebook incorporates recent developments in education law into its conceptual framework by offering updated analysis of major topics in education law. With new material in all of its sixteen chapters, the book includes significant updates on church-state relations, employee rights, and student rights.

The Supreme Court And Pledge Of Allegiance: Does God Still Have A Place In American Schools?, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The dearth of statistical or anecdotal evidence aside, combined with the relative lack of reported litigation, it appears that most students and teachers regularly participate in perhaps the most common daily school ritual by joining in the patriotic recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance (Pledge) and the salute to the American Flag. Yet, as discussed throughout this article, this daily practice has had a history of controversy, whether in schools or political settings.

Turning specifically to schools, in Newdow v. United States Congress (Newdow), the Ninth Circuit set off a firestorm of controversy when, in a case from California, it …

Prayer At Public School Graduation Ceremonies: Exercise In Futility Or A Teachable Moment?, Charles J. Russo

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Due to conflicting lower court judgments on the propriety of prayer at public school graduation ceremonies, this question will return to the Supreme Court. This article is divided into three major sections. Part I briefly recites the history of the Establishment Clause and education. Part II examines case law relevant to prayer at public school graduation ceremonies. This section begins with a brief examination of the cases prior to Lee. It next reviews the majority and dissenting opinions in Lee in some detail to show how the diametrically opposed views of Justices Kennedy of the majority and Scalia of the …