Law Commons^™

It’S Time To Turn The Tide: The Supreme Court Must Moderate Its Stare Decisis Approach Before It’S Too Late For Cases Like Plyler, Sabrina Rodriguez

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

We are standing in a defining moment for the Supreme Court. Against the backdrop of the Court’s Dobbs decision, it is now clearer than ever that if the Court fails to modernize its stare decisis approach, the civil liberties we enjoy are vulnerable to be undermined beyond recognition. Scholars have previously opined that the modern Court’s application of stare decisis to overturn precedent is not a significant departure from the Court’s historical application of this doctrine and thus, the Court’s stare decisis trend is not alarming. This argument fails to appreciate that overturning precedent under selective application stare decisis factors …

Closing The Door On Human Dignity: How The Supreme Court Blocked The Path To Relief For Victims Of Title Ix Discrimination, Bailey Wylie

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

This comment exposes the far-reaching consequences of Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller and scrutinizes the Supreme Court’s reliance on contract law principles to deny victims of discrimination recovery of non-economic damages.

For almost 50 years, courts have awarded emotional distress damages to victims of discrimination. Consequently, the Court’s lack of notice argument within Cummings falls flat through a cursory analysis of precedent. In the context of Title IX discrimination, school districts are undeniably aware of the possibility of sexual harassment liability at the time they accept federal funding. Mandated Codes of Conduct explicitly prohibit sexual harassment and outline ramifications for …

Unequal Access To Higher Education: Student Loan Debt Disproportionately Impacts Minority Students., Elisa Reyes Hinojosa

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

The Eyes Of Texas Are Upon You: Will Affirmative Action In Texas Survive Its Endless Constitutional And Legislative Attacks?, Kathryn L. Cantu

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

A Quarter Century Of Challenges And Progress In Education, And An Agenda For The Next Quarter Century., Albert H. Kauffman

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

Everything Is Bigger In Texas: Including The Horrendously Inadequate Attempts At Providing Special Education And Related Services To All Children With Disabilities, Alexandria R. Booterbaugh

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Without immediate action, the “corrections” made by the Texas legislature to meet the appropriateness requirement for special education will result in imminent peril for students with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as well as their parents. Tens of thousands of children fall between the cracks as a result of Texas’ illegalities and the lack of responsibility Texas’ lawmakers and Texas Education Agency (TEA) have for special education. If Texas does not fully devote itself to a significant overhaul of its special education practices, students will continue to be left behind.

Congress enacted the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) because …

House Bill 3: An Iou Texas Public Schools And Communities Of Color Cannot Afford, Candace L. Castillo

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

A history of school finance litigation and legislation shows there are inherent and structural problems in Texas’s education finance system. Like many government and social structures, the Texas school finance system is built to benefit school districts that have greater access to wealth to begin with and creates inequalities between rich and poor populations as well as between people of color and Caucasians. House Bill 3 went into effect in 2019 and promises improvements to “recapture” calculations, increases in certain allotments, as well as salary increases for some Texas teachers. Some changes to education finance were sorely needed such as …

Modernizing Discrimination Law: The Adoption Of An Intersectional Lens, Marisa K. Sanchez

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

The Texas Supreme Court Retreats From Protecting Texas Students, Albert Kauffman

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

This Article criticizes the 2016 Texas Supreme Court school finance decision, the latest of seven decisions starting in 1989, for its disregard of both the record in the case and the realities of the Texas Constitution and Texas politics. The Article also focuses on how standards for reviewing legislation have changed and the Texas Supreme Court's irrational and unfounded retreat to the "money doesn't make a difference" theory of school finance. Finally, the Article recommends a return to an objective, comprehensible, enforceable and constitutional system of review, and concludes with a prayer for holdings that recognize the inequities of the …

Ideological Voting Applied To The School Desegregation Cases In The Federal Courts Of Appeals From The 1960s And 1970s., Joseph A. Custer

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

The Texas Two-Step: The Criminalization Of Truancy Under The Texas Failure To Attend Statute., Elizabeth A. Angelone

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

Linguistic Profiling In Education: How Accent Bias Denies Equal Educational Opportunities To Students Of Color., William Y. Chin

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

desegregation, education civil rights, Meagan Field, Jennifer Solak, William Chin, Monica Aguon, No Child Left Behind, Minority Student, The Scholar: St. Mary’s Law Review on Minority Issues, Limited English Proficient (LEP).

Equal Protection For The Gifted Student In The Public School System., Monica Aguon

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

Texas, Why Wait - The Urgent Need To Improve Programming For Limited English Proficient Students., Jennifer Michel Solak

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

Gender Segregation In The Public Schools; Opportunity, Inequality, Or Both., Bill Piatt

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Should the public schools be allowed to segregate girls from boys in the classroom? There is a history of single-sex education in this country, but there are concerns about single gender classrooms. In recent decades, researchers have begun to assert that requiring boys and girls to be taught together has a negative impact on the educational progress because of inherent differences in boy/girl learning behavior, or even in the development of their brains. Proponents of gender exclusive classrooms point out the voluntary nature of the programs, and the explicit findings of the Department of Education justifying such programs. Opponents argue …

A Thousand Humiliations: What Brown Could Not Do., Bryan L. Adamson

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

While Brown v. Board of Education sought to integrate the public school system, fifty years later many public schools remain racially identifiable. African American and Latino students attend schools which are overwhelmingly comprised of minorities. Some racially isolated schools even experienced a rise in their minority student population after the decision in Brown. While the decision narrowed racial disparities in schools, such disparities remain distressing. Data shows a large disparity in the number of higher educational degrees earned by African American and White individuals. Additionally, wage earnings of African Americans are significantly smaller compared to White wage earnings. Educational outcomes …

A Pregnant Teenager's Right To Education In Texas., Amber Hausenfluck

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Texas must work to better protect the legal rights of pregnant teenagers within its school districts. Without statewide requirements to ensure the elimination of pregnancy discrimination against students, school districts’ policies vary greatly and often include policies counter to the protections afforded both in Title IX and the Texas Education Code. Title IX requires the choice to attend an alternative school be completely voluntary. However, upon inspection, many Texas schools seem to violate this requirement by compelling or pressuring pregnant students to attend alternative education programs instead of adequately informing them of their educational options. The Texas Education Code guarantees …

Shifting From Race To Ethnicity In Higher Education., Pratheep Sevanthinathan

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

What About Our Future - The Chaos That Is The Texas School Finance System., Brian Stork

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

The current school finance system has failed to address the changing demographics of the state and has serious, long lasting negative effects on disadvantaged students by not providing better funding, services, or facilities. None of the attempts made to fix this glaring problem of inequity within the Texas school finance system has done anything besides point out these blatant flaws and patchwork approach to solving them. Judge Dietz concluded that since the current school finance system does not properly meet the general diffusion of knowledge requirement proscribed by Article VII, Section 1 of the Texas Constitution, it is inadequate and …

Celebrating Accomplishments In Equality, Sharon Breckenridge Thomas

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

The Texas Assessment Of Academic Skills Exit Test–"Driver Of Equity" Or "Ticket To Nowhere?", Placido Gomez

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming

Do Minorities Really Benefit? The Untold Truth About Vouchers, Marie A. Galindo

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming