Law & Courts

Education news, analysis, and opinion about court cases, lawsuits, and regulations affecting schools.
  • Law, politics and eco balance concept. 3d rendering of scale icon on fresh spring meadow with blue sky in background.
    iStock/Getty
    Law & Courts School Restrooms, LGBTQ+ Curriculum, Disability Rights: A Spring Legal Roundup
    Courts weighed in this spring on transgender rights, disability access, and parent opt-outs.
    Mark Walsh, June 20, 2025
    11 min read
    Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry speaks alongside Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill during a press conference regarding the Ten Commandments in schools Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Baton Rouge, La. Murrill announced on Monday that she is filing a brief in federal court asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to overturn the state’s new law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom.
    Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry speaks alongside Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill during a press conference on a law requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in schools on Aug. 5, 2024, in Baton Rouge, La. A federal appeals court on June 20 upheld an injunction blocking the law from taking effect.
    Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate via AP
    Law & Courts Federal Appeals Court Upholds Block on Louisiana Ten Commandments Display Law
    Louisiana's law requiring the Ten Commandments in every classroom likely violates the First Amendment, a federal appeals court ruled.
    Mark Walsh, June 20, 2025
    3 min read
    Demonstrators gather to protest outside of the offices of the U.S. Department of Education in Washington on March 21, 2025 after President Trump signed an executive order to shut down the government agency.
    Demonstrators gather to protest outside of the offices of the U.S. Department of Education in Washington on March 21, 2025, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order aiming to shut down the government agency. A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to restore staffers to the department's office for civil rights, which enforces anti-discrimination laws in the nation's schools.
    Bryan Dozier/NurPhoto via AP
    Law & Courts Court Again Tells Trump Admin. to Restore Laid-Off Ed. Dept. Staffers
    The judge was ruling in a case that challenged staff cuts and office closures at the Education Department's office for civil rights
    Matthew Stone, June 19, 2025
    5 min read
    Nate, 14, left, and Bird, 9, right, whose parents asked not to use their last names, hold signs and transgender pride flags as supporters of transgender rights rally by the Supreme Court on Dec. 4, 2024, in Washington.
    Nate, 14, left, and Bird, 9, right, whose parents asked not to use their last names, hold signs and transgender pride flags as supporters of transgender rights rally by the Supreme Court on Dec. 4, 2024, in Washington. The high court on June 18, 2025, upheld a Tennessee law banning certain gender-transition treatments for minors.
    Jacquelyn Martin/AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Ruling May Redefine Transgender Rights in Schools
    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case about puberty blockers and hormone treatments that holds implications for transgender students.
    Mark Walsh, June 18, 2025
    6 min read
    The Tharpe family, pictured outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on April 28, 2025.
    The Tharpe family, pictured outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on April 28, 2025.
    Mark Walsh/Education Week
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Decision Lets Students Sue Schools More Easily for Disability Bias
    The justices ruled unanimously that students with disabilities need not meet a more stringent standard when suing under two federal laws.
    Mark Walsh, June 12, 2025
    5 min read
    Attorneys from the Education Department's General Counsel Office Emily Merolli, second left, and Shaw Vanze in the back, second right, are greeted by supporters after retrieving their personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington on March 24, 2025.
    Attorneys from the U.S. Education Department's General Counsel Office Emily Merolli, second left, and Shaw Vanze in the back, second right, are greeted by supporters after retrieving their personal belongings from the department's headquarters in Washington on March 24, 2025. The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to undo a federal district court injunction that would reinstate some 1,400 employees laid off from the department.
    Jose Luis Magana/AP
    Law & Courts Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court to Reinstate Ed. Dept. Layoffs
    The administration asks the U.S. Supreme Court to remove an injunction blocking the layoffs of nearly 1,400 department employees
    Mark Walsh, June 6, 2025
    4 min read
    Supporters hold signs and cheer Education Department employees as they leave after retrieving their personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington, Monday, March 24, 2025.
    Supporters hold signs and cheer Education Department employees as they leave after retrieving their personal belongings from the Education Department building in Washington, Monday, March 24, 2025. A judge has ordered the reinstatement of terminated department employees, but they have yet to return to work.
    Jose Luis Magana/AP
    Law & Courts A Court Told Trump to Reverse Ed. Dept. Layoffs. Will It Happen?
    A judge ruled May 22 that the Trump administration had to reinstate laid-off Ed. Dept. staffers. They're still not back on the job.
    Brooke Schultz, June 3, 2025
    6 min read
    Books sit on shelves in an elementary school library in suburban Atlanta on Aug. 18, 2023.
    Books sit on shelves in an elementary school library in suburban Atlanta on Aug. 18, 2023. A federal appeals court covering Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas has made it more difficult for public and school library patrons to challenge book removal decisions.
    Hakim Wright Sr./AP
    Law & Courts Appeals Court Ruling Raises Bar for Challenging School Book Bans
    A federal appeals court rejected a challenge to book removals in a Texas public library and overruled a precedent on school library cases.
    Mark Walsh, May 28, 2025
    6 min read
    Liam Morrison, pictured in the "There Are Only Two Genders" shirt at the heart of his Supreme Court case, L.M. v. Town of Middleborough.
    Liam Morrison, pictured in the "There Are Only Two Genders" shirt at the heart of his Supreme Court case, <i>L.M.</i>&nbsp;v.&nbsp;<i>Town of Middleborough</i>.
    Courtesy of Alliance Defending Freedom
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Won’t Hear ‘Two Genders’ Student T-Shirt Case
    Over two justices' dissent, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case of a student barred from wearing an anti-transgender T-shirt.
    Mark Walsh, May 27, 2025
    6 min read
    Supporters of charter schools rally outside of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, in Washington.
    Supporters of religious charter schools rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on April 30 as the justices weighed Oklahoma's approval of such a charter. On May 22, the court tied 4-4, leaving in place an Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that said such religious charters were unconstitutional.
    Mark Schiefelbein/AP
    Law & Courts Religious Charter School Blocked After Supreme Court Deadlock
    The U.S. Supreme Court's 4-4 split over a religious charter school affirms a lower court ruling against the school but sets no precedent.
    Mark Walsh, May 22, 2025
    6 min read
    Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, speaks in opposition to a heating assistance package, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, at the State House in Augusta, Maine.
    State Rep. Laurel D. Libby speaks at the State House in Augusta, Maine, on Jan. 4, 2023. Libby's February social media post about a transgender athlete ultimately led to a White House confrontation between President Donald Trump and Maine Gov. Janet D. Mills that has escalated to the point of the U.S. Department of Education threatening the state's federal school funding.
    Robert F. Bukaty/AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Gives Relief to Maine Legislator in Transgender Sports Controversy
    The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily restored voting privileges to a Maine lawmaker whose social media post criticized a transgender athlete.
    Mark Walsh, May 20, 2025
    3 min read
    Hannah Liu, 26, of Washington, holds up a sign in support of birthright citizenship on May 15, 2025, outside of the Supreme Court in Washington. "This is enshrined in the Constitution. My parents are Chinese immigrants," says Liu. "They came here on temporary visas so I derive my citizenship through birthright."
    Hannah Liu, 26, of Washington, holds up a sign in support of birthright citizenship on May 15, 2025, outside of the Supreme Court in Washington. "This is enshrined in the Constitution. My parents are Chinese immigrants," says Liu. "They came here on temporary visas so I derive my citizenship through birthright."
    Jacquelyn Martin/AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Case on Birthright Citizenship Sparks Fears for School Funding
    The justices are weighing whether to allow nationwide injunctions of President Donald Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship.
    Mark Walsh, May 15, 2025
    5 min read
    Man and woman waiting around speech bubble hole
    E+/Getty
    Law & Courts Opinion What the Supreme Court Case on LGBTQ+ Books Reminds Us About Parents’ Rights
    Regardless of which side wins Mahmoud v. Taylor, we have a big problem.
    Jamie Kudlats & Christopher D. Thomas, May 15, 2025
    5 min read
    Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter smiles during a new lecture series titled, "Constitutionally Speaking" on Sept. 14, 2012 in Concord, N.H. Souter spoke to more than 1,300 who packed a small theater to hear him.
    Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, pictured participating a Sept. 14, 2012, lecture series on the U.S. Constitution in Concord, N.H., died May 8, 2025.
    Jim Cole/AP
    Law & Courts Retired Justice Souter, Advocate for Civics and Church-State Split, Dies at 85
    Retired Justice David Souter, who wrote Supreme Court opinions on student strip searches and government aid to religion, has died.
    Mark Walsh, May 9, 2025
    4 min read
    Supporters of charter schools rally outside of the Supreme Court on April 30, 2025, in Washington.
    Supporters of religious charter schools rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on April 30, 2025, in Washington.
    Mark Schiefelbein/AP
    Law & Courts Supreme Court Appears Open to Religious Charter School
    The U.S. Supreme Court grappled with whether charter schools are public schools and whether the Constitution permits a religious charter.
    Mark Walsh, April 30, 2025
    7 min read