Gov. Brown Signs Stupid Straw Bill
California in a nutshell: Laws that "feel good" but don't work pass. One that might actually help kids gets vetoed.
Education
Professor Defends a Woman Accused of a Sex Crime, University Forces Him to Undergo Sexual Harassment Training
"Can a faculty member now never speak on the character of an ex-student when they are in trouble with the law?"
In Constitution Day Speech, Betsy DeVos Says 'Government Muscle' Is Not the Answer to the Campus Free Speech Problem
"Solutions won't come from new laws from Washington, D.C., or from a speech police at the U.S. Department of Education."
Are Teachers Really 'Not Paid for the Work [They] Do'? Time Says Yes, Reality Begs To Differ
Actually, the average salary for public-school teachers is close to the median income for U.S. households.
Department of Education Decision May Pressure Universities to Restrict Some Anti-Israel Speech
The Office for Civil Rights decision is in some ways opaque and equivocal, but the message to universities seems pretty powerful -- such decisions about enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights of Act may turn on whether the university tolerates certain criticisms of Israel that OCR has now labeled "anti-Semitic."
Jury Clears Campus Cops Who Fatally Shot a Navy Vet Who Was Breaking Up a Fight
Jason Washington was killed after trying to pick up his legal firearm from the ground.
Teens Are Triggered By In-Class Presentations and Would Like Them Abolished
"I think if a student is really unsettled and anxious because of it you should probably make it something less stressful."
Speech Codes and "Twisting Title IX"
The weird interrelationship between harassment law and campus free speech
Speech Code Hokey Pokey: How Campus Speech Codes Could Rebound
If you believe that unconstitutional speech codes are a scandal at public universities, two recent cases should worry you.
CUNY Investigated a Student for 'Triggering' Comment About Israel
"It was explained to them why this is hate speech and that it is offensive and triggering."
Good News and Bad News About Campus Speech Codes
A very brief history of the rise and fall (and potential rise again) of campus speech codes. [UPDATE: Very sorry, at first accidentally labeled this as my post -- it's actually Greg Lukianoff's & Adam Goldstein's.]
Court Says School Resource Officers Can't Arrest Students Just to 'Prove a Point'
A California cop arrested some victims of bullying because they were unresponsive during mediation.
A School Resource Officer Used a Taser on a Teen, Then Charged Him with Resisting Arrest
"He remembers falling to the ground, his muscles betraying his mind's desire to stand. Then he remembers nothing."
A Mathematician Says Activists Made His Paper Disappear Because Its Findings Offended Them
At behest of a feminist professor, an academic journal's board reportedly threatened to "harass the journal until it died."
The Coddling of the American Mind, Campuses, and the Law
Campus mental health, freedom of speech, and government policy.
Discipline of UNM Med Student for "Unduly Inflammatory" Anti-Abortion Post Upheld
There is no "clearly established" First Amendment rights of public university professional school students to engage in such speech, a federal court holds.
Public Schools Threaten Parents With Jail Time for Truant Kids
Those tykes are worth big bucks to institutional educators, so if you don't hand 'em over, you might be slapped with fines or even incarceration.
Ohio State Employs Dozens of Diversity Staffers, and Nine Make More Than $100,000
The top-paid OSU diversity czar makes $265,000.
Challenge to Ban on "Literature with Offensive Content" at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
The policy -- here, applied to someone passing out religious valentines -- also bans "signs ... with offensive content," and more generally limits even nonoffensive signs and leafleting to a narrow "free speech zone."
"The Schoolhouse Gate" as a Site of Constitutional Law
An important new book by my colleague Justin Driver, which should be of interest of all who follow constitutional law
Why Would Frat Boys Follow a New Ban on Hard Liquor?
Frats already break the law by serving alcohol to underage students. Why would a ban on hard liquor be any different?
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Overprotective Parenting Led to Fragility on Campus
Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff explain how "good intentions and bad ideas" have made young people super-fragile-and how to make things better.
New Study Finds Zero Evidence That Hiring a Chief Diversity Officer Produces More Diversity on Campus
"We are unable to find significant statistical evidence that preexisting growth in diversity... is affected by hiring an executive level diversity officer."
Don't Homeschool Your Kids, Unschool Them
Homeschoolers are increasingly ridding themselves not just of schools but of traditional notions about schooling.
End of History Author Francis Fukuyama Thinks Leftist Identity Politics Helped Create Trump
Plus: Why Jordan Peterson may be right about postmodern neo-Marxism.
Arizona Supreme Court Blocks Proposed Tax Hike, Saying It's Too Confusing
The ballot initiative, which would have raised money for education by hiking taxes on the wealthy, "creates a significant danger of confusion or unfairness."
The Importance of Uncomfortable Conversations
Uncensored author and new college grad Zachary R. Wood explains why his generation is so scared of viewpoint diversity.
A Black Male Student Says a White Woman Bit, Choked, and Pinned Him While They Were Kissing. Guess Who Got Suspended?
A judge sides with a Brown University student who says the Title IX process was unfair and discriminatory.
Federal Survey Wildly Overestimates Number of School Shootings
The Department of Education's data on school shootings is riddled with inaccuracies.
Georgia Tech Rejects a Qualified Job Applicant Over His Teenage Criminal Record
Benjamin Paul is a single father, a college graduate, an ordained minister, and a career adviser. And he's an ex-con.
The Case for a Consistent Approach to Government Discrimination on the Basis of Religion
Both right and left decry implicit government discrimination on the basis of religion when it targets groups they sympathize with. But both are all too ready to turn a blind eye in other cases.
High Schooler Faces Prison, Expulsion for Shooting Fake Zombies
Play an augmented-reality zombie shooter in a school halllway, go to jail.
Rutgers Can Criticize a White Professor for Anti-White Racism, But Punishing Him Would Violate Free Speech
"Okay, officially, I now hate white people" is a gross statement that deserves First Amendment protection.
Advice to Entering Law Students
Some ideas that might help you make better use of the opportunities available to you.
The Most Cited Legal Academics 2013-17 (Updated)
A new report on the academic influence of law faculties and tallies of legal citations by specialty.
Decades after Brown v. Board of Education, Choice Finally Integrated Schools in Alabama's Poorest County
Opponents of charter schools often claim that school choice will segregate K-12 education. Sumter County, Alabama proves them wrong.
What if the Volokh Conspiracy Bloggers Were a Law School Faculty? [Updated with a methodological correction]
The Volokh Law School "faculty" would outscore all but one other law school in the most recent Leiter ranking of law schools by scholarly impact.
Feminists Rally to Defense of Female Professor Accused of Sexual Harassment by Male Student
#MeToo madness: it's wrong to use Title IX, a feminist tool, "to take down a feminist."
Mandatory 'In God We Trust' Signs Greet Florida Students at Start of School Year
Thanks to legislation that passed in March, all Florida public schools must display "In God We Trust" signage in "a conspicuous place."
Body Camera Shows School Resource Officer Handcuffing an Autistic 10-Year-Old
Officer Eric Coulston repeatedly pinned Thomas to the ground and handcuffed him after he tried to hide in a cubby hole.
Chapman U. President Doesn't Want His Campus 'UnKoched': Podcast
Daniele Struppa says progressives who would deny money simply because of who gives it pose "a grave threat to academic freedom."
Back To School Choice
These days, kids are heading back to increasingly varied learning experiences that might or might not include anything recognizable as a traditional school.
