Supreme Court

Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo last April.
The U.S. Supreme Court blocked a federal vaccine mandate for large employers, including school districts in about half the states.
Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP
Law & Courts Supreme Court Blocks Biden Vaccine Mandate Applying to Schools in Much of the Country
The justices ruled 6-3 to stay an Occupational Health and Safety Administration rule that covered schools in 26 states and two territories.
Mark Walsh, January 13, 2022
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4 min read
The Supreme Court shown Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, in Washington. The Supreme Court is taking up two major Biden administration efforts to bump up the nation's vaccination rate against COVID-19 at a time of spiking coronavirus cases because of the omicron variant.
The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing two Biden administration efforts to bump up the nation's vaccination rate against COVID-19.
Evan Vucci/AP
Law & Courts High Court Appears Skeptical of Vaccine Mandate Covering Schools in Over Half the States
The Biden administration's OSHA rule applies to private employers with 100 or more workers, as well as school districts in 26 states.
Mark Walsh, January 7, 2022
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4 min read
Books packed up in a cardboard box.
Patrick Daxenbichler/iStock/Getty
Law & Courts Yanking Books From School Libraries: What the Supreme Court Has Said, and Why It's Murky
A 1982 dispute involving a local school board offers plenty of parallels to the latest wave of book challenges involving race and gender.
Mark Walsh, December 15, 2021
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11 min read
From left, Amy and Olivia Carson pictured outside Bangor Christian School in Bangor, Maine on Nov. 5, 2021.
Amy Carson, left, and her daughter, Olivia, stand outside Bangor Christian Schools in Maine in November, before their case went before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Linda Coan O’Kresik for Education Week
Law & Courts Religious Schools and State Aid: What to Glean From a Lively Supreme Court Argument
Justices seem skeptical about Maine's exclusion of religious schools from tuition aid for students in towns without public high schools.
Mark Walsh, December 8, 2021
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8 min read
Crumpled Up Dollar Bill
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Law & Courts Supreme Court Weighs a Type of Damages Schools Can Face in Civil Rights Lawsuits
The issue involves compensation for "emotional distress," and the case holds implications for suits brought under Title IX and other laws.
Mark Walsh, November 30, 2021
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6 min read
The Carson family pictured outside Bangor Christian School in Bangor, Maine on Nov. 5, 2021.
Institute for Justice senior attorney Michael E. Bindas, left, accompanies Amy and David Carson who flank their daughter, Olivia, outside Bangor Christian Schools in Maine in early November. The Carsons are one of two families seeking to make religious schools eligible for Maine's tuition program for students from towns without high schools.
Linda Coan O’Kresik for Education Week
Law & Courts Can Public Money Go to Religious Schools? A Divisive Supreme Court Case Awaits
The justices will weigh Maine's exclusion of religious schools from its "tuitioning" program for students from towns without high schools.
Mark Walsh, November 18, 2021
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13 min read
Parkland survivor and activist David Hogg speaks during a rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021. The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a gun rights case that centers on New York's restrictive gun permit law and whether limits the state has placed on carrying a gun in public violate the Second Amendment.
David Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., speaks during a rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday. The court heard arguments on a New York law that limits the concealed carry of guns for self-defense.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Law & Courts Why Schools Have a Stake in U.S. Supreme Court Case That May Expand Gun Rights
In a case from New York state, the justices may further define the "sensitive places" such as schools where all firearms may be prohibited.
Mark Walsh, November 3, 2021
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7 min read
Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington on April 23, 2021.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 2 heard arguments on whether a school board's censure of one of its members implicated the First Amendment.
Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP
Law & Courts In Censure of School Board Member, U.S. Supreme Court Skeptical of First Amendment Claim
The justices weighed the free speech implications of a formal reprimand of a community college board member who violated board rules.
Mark Walsh, November 2, 2021
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7 min read
Photo shows a summer day in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, DC.
Bill Chizek/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Law & Courts How Critical Race Theory Made an Appearance in Abortion Case Before the U.S. Supreme Court
Some fear the Texas abortion law that relies on private enforcement could prompt similar measures for race discussions at school.
Mark Walsh, November 1, 2021
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4 min read
Conceptual image of a board meeting.
A-Digit/DigitalVision Vectors
Law & Courts Is Censuring a 'Rogue' School Board Member a Free Speech Violation? High Court to Decide
The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to hear arguments on whether official rebukes of officeholders trigger First Amendment concerns.
Mark Walsh, October 20, 2021
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8 min read
In this Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020 file photo, senior Clinical Research Nurse Ajithkumar Sukumaran prepares the COVID 19 vaccine to administer to a volunteer, at a clinic in London. British scientists are beginning a small study comparing how two experimental coronavirus vaccines might work when they are inhaled by people instead of being injected. In a statement on Monday, Sept. 14, 2020, researchers at Imperial College London and Oxford University said a trial involving 30 people would test vaccines developed by both institutions when participants inhale the droplets in their mouths, which would directly target their respiratory systems.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Oct. 1 denied a request to block a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees of the New York City school system.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Law & Courts Justice Sotomayor Denies Bid to Block Vaccine Mandate for New York City School Employees
The Supreme Court justice's refusal involves the COVID-19 vaccine requirement in the nation's largest school district.
Mark Walsh, October 2, 2021
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2 min read
In this June 8, 2021 photo, with dark clouds overhead, the Supreme Court is seen in Washington.
The U.S. Supreme Court's new term opens in early October with several cases that could impact K-12 schools.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Law & Courts Here Are the Upcoming Supreme Court Cases That Matter for Schools
Major cases on school choice and religious schools will be heard, along with a case on whether school boards can reprimand outspoken members.
Mark Walsh, September 27, 2021
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9 min read
Image of a band-aid being placed on the arm.
iStock/Getty
Law & Courts Can They Do That? Questions Swirl Around COVID-19 School Vaccine Mandates
With at least one large school district adopting a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, here is a look at the legal landscape for such a requirement.
Mark Walsh, September 10, 2021
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5 min read
Bremerton High School assistant football coach Joe Kennedy, center in blue, kneels and prays after his team lost to Centralia in Bremerton, Wash., on Oct. 16, 2015. Kennedy, who was suspended for praying at midfield after games, has filed a discrimination complaint on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015 with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission according to The Liberty Institute, a Texas-based law firm representing the coach.
Joe Kennedy, center in blue, kneels and prays after a game in October 2015 when he was the assistant football coach at Bremerton High School in Bremerton, Wash. In a long-running legal fight, Kennedy contends he has First Amendment free-speech and free-exercise-of-religion rights to express his Christian faith while on the job. The case is likely headed back to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Lindsey Wasso/The Seattle Times via AP
Law & Courts Praying Coach v. District That Suspended Him: What's Next in Fight Over Religious Expression
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit declined to reconsider an earlier panel ruling that sided with the school district.
Mark Walsh, July 20, 2021
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4 min read
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