Landmark Supreme Court Cases For & About Students
(In Chronological Order)
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) – Equal Protection, 14th Amendment
Engel v. Vitale (1962) – Prayer in public schools
Kent v. United States (1966) – Teens tried as adults
Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969) – Political speech in school
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) – Religious exception to mandatory school after 8th grade
San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (1972) – No Constitutional right to an education, thus funding does not have to be equal
Ingraham v. Wright (1977) – Corporal punishment in school
New Jersey v. TLO (1985) – Search and seizure in schools/Reasonable Suspicion threshold
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988) – Schools can censor student newspapers
DeShaney v. Winnebago County Social Services (1989) – The Constitution doesn’t protect kids from their parents
West Side Community Schools v. Mergens (1990) – Student religious clubs allowed in schools
Vernonia School District v. Acton (1995) – (an Oregon case!) Schools can require random drug testing for athletes
U.S. v. Lopez (1995) – No federal authority to ban guns in school zones
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000) – Prayers before school activities (like football games)
Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) – Affirmative action – colleges can use race as an admissions factor