Digital Commons Network^™

Getting A Special Education: Parents, Lawyers, And The Politics Of Disability In Postwar Pennsylvania, Emma Gabriel

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This paper explores the relationship between white parent advocates in Pennsylvania and public interest lawyers, whose litigation efforts legitimized the construction of an implicitly white disabled class in the mid-twentieth century. This analysis sheds light on the ways in which school reform became a key element in the simultaneous construction and renegotiation of intellectual disability and race in the postwar era, and foregrounded the adoption of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975.

The Lantern, 2025-2026, Naila Twyman, Rach Wascoe, Lauren Macallister, Owen Fazzini, Sidney Belleroche, Jordyn Chaise, Christopher Gerrow, Catherine Stump, Madeline O'Connor, Shiloh Bloom, Luke Peloquin, Benjamin Warner, Sasha Schweitzer-Weeks, Andrew Mihniak, Adrienne Dyer, Gregory Dervinis, Neil Hutchinson, Olive Neri, Daniel Barry, Izabella Entrekin, Vienna Gurev, Ash Hawkes, Bowie Dake, Mike Davis, Anita Farrell, Daniel Mcgrath, Taylor Rainer, Sharon Gearhart, Sophia Bush, Caitlin Cunnane, Olive Sturm, Hayden James, Alex Kolb, Gianna M. Scotto, Casey Kracz

The Lantern Literary Magazines, 1933 to Present

Acceptance • The Negro Mermaid • Rubber Rosebud • Exposing the Smoker with Acne Scars • Alarms Down • Dress Rehearsal • Drowning in the Depths • I'm Stuck on the London Eye 'Cause My Paperwork's Got Inconsistencies and They Won't Let Me Get Off • Loose Change in a Pickle Jar • Marge Returned on a Tuesday • One Call Away • Regression to the Mean • Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold • That Which Lurks • To Write a Wrong • Vines Above Us • What Must Be Done • Lullaby to Acceptance • To Sooth …

The Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly: A 10-Year History Volumes 87-96 (2016-2025), Joel Fishman

Law Faculty Publications

This article is the second supplement to my previous two articles covering the history of The Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly.² For the period of this article, Robert E. Rains, Professor Emeritus, Penn State Dickinson Law, has been the editor, replacing Professor Louis Del Duca, who had served as editor for an amazing 47 years. The January 2016 issue appropriately began with two articles in homage to Prof. Del Duca.³

Opening Brief For Plaintiff-Appellant Emery Barron, Steven Mitchell, Carolyn Sacco, Shaina Sikka, Madeline H. Meth

Faculty Scholarship

By the time Emery Barron sued Pennsylvania Department of Corrections officials in 2021, they had kept him caged for almost six years in solitary confinement without providing a pathway for him to reenter general population. Department of Correction policy calls for officials to review the ongoing need for solitary confinement after an initial ninety-day stint in disciplinary confinement. However, procedural carve outs allow officials to leave people like Barron in solitary indefinitely without an opportunity to be heard by a decisionmaker and without requiring officials to assert any legitimate penological interest behind the confinement.

Under this scheme, which violated both …

2025-2026 Ursinus College Course Catalogue, Office Of The Registrar

Ursinus College Catalogues, 1869-Present

A digital copy of the 2025-2026 Ursinus College Catalog. It contains details of the curriculum, departmental requirements and courses of instruction as well as the Open Questions core requirements, experiential learning and the Common Intellectual Experience (CIE). Academic policies, special opportunities and scholarships, off-campus programs and graduation requirements are also outlined.

Law School News: Rwu Law Faculty Honored With National Award For Advancing Diversity In Legal Education 05-22-2025, Helga Melgar

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

The Grizzly, March 6, 2025, Kate Horan, Jesse Cherone, Ashley Adam, Nathaniel Nerone, Saher Khan, Sidney Belleroche, Adam Denn

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Bears' Basketball Season Comes to an End • Tidbits About Title IX • Bears Together Strong • Saher on the Modern Rainbow Scare • Fundamentals • Opinions: Ranking Dining Options on Campus • Gymnastics Looks to Finish Strong! • Women's Wrestling Ready to Rumble

The Judicial Opinions Of Sandra Schultz Newman, Joel Fishman

Law Faculty Publications

Judge Of The Commonwealth Court Of Pennsylvania, 1993-1995.

Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court Of Pennsylvania, 1996-2006.

Presented In A Special Ceremony Of The Supreme Court Of Pennsylvania In Naming Its Courtroom In Philadelphia On September 9, 2025.

compiled by Joel Fishman, PH.D., M.L.S.

Hampton L. Carson (1852-1929): Attorney General, Bar Leader, Writer And Collector, Joel Fishman

Law Faculty Publications

Hampton L. Carson (1852-1929) was a law professor, Pennsylvania Attorney General, President of the American, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations, noted orator and prolific writer of legal history and biography, and collector of the largest Anglo-American law books and manuscripts. This article will review his life and work.

Pennsylvania And Sports Law: Keys To The Keystone State, Adam Epstein

Marquette Sports Law Review

No abstract provided.

Two Roads To Cornwall: The Cornwall, The Cornwall & Lebanon, And Gilded Age Rail Competition, Shane A. Keenan

Masters Theses

Historians have devoted much attention to the overbuilding and excessive competition among railroads in the 1880s. However, they have mostly focused on larger railroads like the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad (Reading). Smaller railroads like the Cornwall Railroad and the Cornwall & Lebanon Railroad are less well known but play an important part in that larger story. Both railroads ran between Lebanon, Pennsylvania and Cornwall, Pennsylvania. Their primary purpose was to ship iron ore from the mines in Cornwall. Few outside of Lebanon County or Lancaster County, Pennsylvania know about these two railroads, yet they are a …

The Grizzly, October 3, 2024, Kate Horan, Renee Washart, Ashley Adam, Estella Bower, Caitlin Cunnane, Hannah Teitelman, Sophia Kumar, Hadley Whitman, Adam Denn

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Upcoming Performance by Mina Choi • Swing Into This Club • Latin Jazz Social at the Berman • Dungeons & Dragons and Denn, Oh My! • Women in Technology and Science Club • Opinions: Give Me My Money! • "Moneyball" Comes to Collegeville: New Sports Analytics Club • Patterson Field Gets Massive Upgrade

Sigma Gamma Epsilon Student Research Poster Session, Geological Society Of America Annual Meeting 2023, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Usa, Scott Beason

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

The Society of Sigma Gamma Epsilon sponsors an annual poster session at every Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America. The 35th Sigma Gamma Epsilon undergraduate research poster session took place during the 2023 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, on Monday, October 16, 2022. Sixty-three (63) posters were presented in Exhibit Hall B at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center between 8:00 AM and 5:30 PM at the poster session. Titles, authors (italics for the presenting author), affiliations, and abstracts for each poster are listed in this report.

2024-2025 Ursinus College Course Catalogue, Office Of The Registrar

Ursinus College Catalogues, 1869-Present

A digital copy of the 2024-2025 Ursinus College Catalog. It contains details of the curriculum, departmental requirements and courses of instruction as well as the Open Questions core requirements, experiential learning and the Common Intellectual Experience (CIE). Academic policies, special opportunities and scholarships, off-campus programs and graduation requirements are also outlined.

The Grizzly, February 8, 2024, Marie Sykes, Sean Mcginley, Kate Horan, Kathy Logan, Andrew J. Perez, Adam Denn, Dominic Minicozzi

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Restructuring VP Positions • Steam Bending With Adriane Colburn • 2024 Watson Fellowship Finalists • The Writing Fellow Experience • Jasmine's Journey of Sushi • Swimmers Gear Up for Champs • Senior Day Sweep: Ursinus College Men's Wrestling

An Excavation Of Margaret And Jerry Morgan: How The Architecture Of Black Liminal Spaces Shaped Antebellum Conflict Between Maryland And Pennsylvania, Felicia A. Appenteng

Dissertations and Theses

In the 1830s, Jerry and Margaret Morgan and their six children were living as a free Black family in rural Pennsylvania, one of a growing number of such families in a part of the state that bordered Maryland. Suddenly, their lives were violently disrupted in 1837 when a group of men from Maryland, led by Edward Prigg, entered into Pennsylvania to seize Margaret and the children so that they could be enslaved. Although the most dramatic, this was only the latest twist in the unusual lives of the Morgan family. Jerry Morgan was born into enslavement, gained his freedom, and …

John Sergeant (1779-1852): Philadelphia Civic Servant, Congressman, Lawyer, Joel Fishman

Law Faculty Publications

John Sergeant (1779-1852) was a leading Philadelphia lawyer in Philadelphia in the first half of the nineteenth century. He served in various civic activities, served as a member of the House of Representatives in seven Congresses, and had a distinguished legal career in both the Federal and Pennsylvania courts. This article will review his life and work.

Investigating Factors In Firearm Fatalities In Pediatric Populations, Parth Patel, Domenick Bartoletti

Scholarship in Medicine - All Papers

Despite advancements in public health initiatives, preventable firearm injuries among children persist in the United States. This study investigates correlations between household income, single parent households, severe housing problems, and firearm fatalities among pediatric populations in Ohio counties. Utilizing data from the County Health Rankings and the National Center for Health Statistics–Mortality Files, our analysis reveals a negative correlation between household income and firearm fatalities, emphasizing the role of socioeconomic factors in firearm safety. Additionally, we found a positive correlation between single parent households and firearm fatalities. Furthermore, a weak positive correlation suggests a potential link between severe housing problems …

Law And Literature In Pennsylvania: A Changing Landscape, Juliette Gaggini

Honors Theses

This thesis examines themes of American national identity perpetuated in Pennsylvania surrounding private property through historical, literary and legal analysis. Ideals of private property and land ownership are broken into three transitions throughout Pennsylvania history: the American frontier and initial land claiming by settlers, mass-deforestation and the introduction of widespread agriculture, and finally industrialization and the introduction of mining and fracking. Each of these transitions highlights the physical changes to the region and how they were influenced by American ideals of private property, productivity, and profitability.

Throughout this thesis, I analyze both literary and legal texts to examine societal beliefs …

Correcting Contradiction: Limiting License Suspension As A Child Support Enforcement Mechanism In Pennsylvania, Robin Platte

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In many communities across Pennsylvania, maintaining employment without a driver’s license is extremely difficult. Section 4355 of the Pennsylvania Domestic Relations Code authorizes license suspension as a means to encourage child support payments. Unfortunately, license suspensions rarely result in obligors making payments. Instead, suspensions often lead to loss of employment and financial insecurity. Under Section 4355, if an obligor falls three months behind in child support payments, their professional, recreational, and driver’s licenses may be suspended indefinitely. Coincidentally, the obligor’s actual ability to pay may not be considered in a pre-suspension hearing. Even those who fall far below the national …

The Importance Of Endrew: Analyzing The Influence Of A New Legal Precedent In Pennsylvania Due Process Hearing Officer Decisions Before And After Covid-19 Closures, David H. Rush

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

In 2017, a new standard for determining substantive violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was established with the ruling for Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. Recently, the United States Department of Education and State Education Agencies have cited the Endrew decision as being important in defining what constitutes a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) under the IDEA, in light of mandated school closures due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Despite its noted importance, there has been limited analysis into how this new legal precedent has influenced special education due process hearing officer decisions. …

Bedford Springs Resort: A Political And Social Annex Of Antebellum America: 1840-1860, Sara Grace Davis-Leonard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Antebellum America has been described as a period of turbulence for the nation as the North and the South grew farther apart through sectionalism. While voters relied upon the increasing partisan press to inform them of debates in Washington and the often-deliberate decision to forgo the ultimate decision on slavery, in private politicians forged friendships through social events such as parties and dinners. When the Congressional session ended in early summer, politicians often accompanied by their families would travel north to Saratoga Springs or west to the much cooler climates of the mountain resorts: Bedford Springs, White Sulphur Springs, Warm …

2023-2024 Ursinus College Course Catalogue, Office Of The Registrar

Ursinus College Catalogues, 1869-Present

A digital copy of the 2023-2024 Ursinus College Catalog. It contains details of the curriculum, departmental requirements and courses of instruction as well as the Open Questions core requirements, experiential learning and the Common Intellectual Experience (CIE). Academic policies, special opportunities and scholarships, off-campus programs and graduation requirements are also outlined.

Expungement In Pennsylvania After Pardon: Excluded By Clean Slate Limited Access, Joseph H. O’Donnell

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Pennsylvania law provides several methods to protect or dispose of a criminal record. Methods to protect a criminal record from public view include expungement, limited access, clean slate limited access, and pardon. Expungement is a relatively limited right in Pennsylvania, but individuals do have a right to expungement upon receipt of a governor’s pardon. This right was created by case law. However, not every state follows this model. The recently enacted Clean Slate Limited Access Act created automated sealing for certain offenses, including cases where the Governor issued a pardon. This created a system of double protection for criminal records …

Exploring Expansion Of Biogas Energy Production On Homesteads, Small-Scale, And Large-Scale Farms, Morgan Powell

Student Project Reports

No abstract provided.

Abolition’S Informal Gatekeepers: The Role Of County Courts In The Making Of Pennsylvania’S ‘Free’ Border, Amanda Mcgee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Because Pennsylvania was the first state to implement legislation that slowly ended slavery within the state, contests over freedom and the enforcement of where it began and ended became an essential element of Pennsylvania’s border-making policies in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. The struggle over the territorial extent (by which I mean legal and geographical) of Pennsylvania abolition between enslavers intent on retaining their human chattel by any means necessary and enslaved men and women intent on asserting their freedom once they touched Pennsylvania “free soil” in turn, served to solidify the geopolitical boundary of the state in …

The New Laboratories Of Democracy, Gerald S. Dickinson

Fordham Law Voting Rights and Democracy Forum

No abstract provided.

The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program In A Multifactorial Approach To The Opioid Crisis: Pdmp Data, Pennsylvania, 2016–2020, Jenna R. Adalbert, Amit Syal, Karan Varshney, Brandon George, Jeffrey Hom, Asif M. Ilyas

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

Background: Prescription opioids remain an important contributor to the United States opioid crisis and to the development of opioid use disorder for opioid-naïve individuals. Recent legislative actions, such as the implementation of state prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), aim to reduce opioid morbidity and mortality through enhanced tracking and reporting of prescription data. The primary objective of our study was to describe the opioid prescribing trends in the state of Pennsylvania (PA) as recorded by the PA PDMP following legislative changes in reporting guidelines, and discuss the PDMP's role in a multifactorial approach to opioid harm reduction.

Methods: State-level opioid …

Book Review: The Strange Case Of Dr. Paul Schoeppe, Robert E. Rains

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Book Review of The Strange Case of Dr. Paul Schoeppe, by Mark W. Podvia, with a foreword by William E. Butler.

Arlen Specter: How A Jewish Boy From Kansas Became A Mediator For Middle East Peace, Georgia G. Skuza

Arlen Specter Center Research Fellowship

Amongst all the things Senator Arlen Specter had accomplished in his thirty years as a United States Senator, one of the most fascinating is that of the late Senators work on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The long-held debate of the borders surrounding Israel & Palestine has made politicians and people chose sides. As a Jewish individual, Senator Specter had to set aside his religious and personal beliefs to affectively pass legislation in the state of Pennsylvania and United States Congress. One of Senator Specter’s largest areas of study was Middle East Diplomacy. His Pro-Israel stance led him to have an aura …