Schools | Judiciary.org

Supreme Court

Justices take up Maryland parents’ challenge to LGBTQ books in schools

The Supreme Court will decide whether a group of Maryland parents can opt to have their children exempted from LGBTQ-themed storybooks. The justices on Friday afternoon granted Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which a coalition of parents from Montgomery County, Md., contend that requiring their children to participate in instruction that violates their religious beliefs violates their First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion.

The announcement once again puts the justices in the center of the culture wars. … Read the rest

Circuit Courts

Mendez v. Westminster: How a Young Girl’s Courage Transformed Schools

Sylvia Mendez was just eight when she became part of a landmark school desegregation case that helped pave the way for the famous Brown v. Board ruling a decade later. The story of Mendez v. Westminster is told in a new Moments in History video.
Judiciary News – United States Courts… Read the rest

Supreme Court

The constitutionality of a magnet school’s admissions policy

The Relist Watch column examines cert petitions that the Supreme Court has “relisted” for its upcoming conference. A short explanation of relists is available here.

The Supreme Court will consider a whopping 472 petitions and applications at this Friday’s conference, making it the biggest conference since the behemoth end-of-summer “long conference.” The justices will be reconsidering three cert petitions for the first time.

Last June, the Supreme Court invalidated the undergraduate admissions programs at Harvard and the University of … Read the rest