• Selected
• Entire List

Abstract:
School exclusion has existed as a dark side of public education since the creation of America's public schools. Several cases in the United States Supreme Court memorably invalidated State and school system efforts to deny equal educational opportunities to marginalized school children and youth. In these cases, the over-riding multiple values of education were poignantly articulated in the majority decisions.

School exclusion has stubbornly persisted. It takes many forms. This article surveys the most prominent pathways to school exclusion, highlighting what has been called the "School-To-Prison-Pipeline." Various legal challenges are also evaluated. The pros and cons of litigating school exclusion cases are also assessed.

education, school exclusion, school-to-prison-pipeline, special education

Abstract:
Despite the enactment of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, students with disabilities have been disproportionally singled out for school exclusion and “push-out” through disciplinary actions, inadequate educational programs, and criminal prosecution. In Honig v. Doe, 484 U.S. 305 (1988), the United States Supreme Court condemned the disciplinary exclusion of students for behaviors that were manifestations of the students’ emotional disabilities. Criminal prosecution of students for disability-related behavior was curbed in the case of Morgan v. Chris L., 927 F. Supp. 267 (E.D. Tenn 1994), aff’d 106 F.3d 401 (6th Cir. 1997). This article examines the Chris L. litigation, the subsequent legislative changes made to the IDEA, and recent, related litigation. The article calls for a universal halt to criminalizing students - all students - for minor school-related misconduct .

students, disabilities, school, criminalization

Abstract:
Environmental justice campaigns have been a dynamic feature of public interest lawyering for over four decades. These community lawyers, sensitive to the democratic imperatives of their grassroots clients, employ a viscous blend of legal and nonlegal strategies to achieve their clients’ aims. This article is the story of an environmental justice campaign, still being waged, in the Appalachian mountains of east Tennessee. The campaign seeks to halt the destructive practice of mountaintop removal strip-mining for coal through the deployment of traditional litigation and more unconventional extrajudicial strategies, both of which are designed to build the voices and power of the groups and communities opposed to mountaintop removal. This case study places this 'local' struggle in the context of emerging new public interest lawyering.

environment, environmental justice,public interest law, strip-mining, coal