Jim Shaffer's List: 1st Amendment Sample

Following the decision by this Court on June 3, 1940, in Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586, the West Virginia legislature amended its statutes to require all schools therein to conduct courses of instruction in history, civics, and in the Constitutions of the United States and of the State

Failure to conform is "insubordination," dealt with by expulsion. Readmission is denied by statute until compliance. Meanwhile, the expelled child is "unlawfully absent," ^[n5] and may be proceeded against as a delinquent. ^[n6] His parents or guardians are liable to prosecution, ^[n7] and, if convicted, are subject to fine not exceeding $50 and Jail term not exceeding thirty days. ^[n8]

Petitioners are the Board of Education of the Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26, in New York, and Richard Ahrens, Frank Martin, Christina Fasulo, Patrick Hughes, Richard Melchers, Richard Michaels, and Louis Nessim. When this suit was brought, Ahrens was the President of the Board, Martin was the Vice President, and the remaining petitioners were Board members. The Board is a

In September, 1975, petitioners Ahrens, Martin, and Hughes attended a conference sponsored by Parents of New York United (PONYU), a politically conservative organization of parents concerned about education legislation in the State of New York. At the conference, these petitioners obtained lists of books described by Ahrens as "objectionable," App. 22, and by Martin as "improper fare for school students," id. at 101. ^[n2] It was later determined that the High School library contained nine of the listed books, and that another listed book was in the Junior High School library. ^[n3] In [p857] February, 1976, at a meeting with the Superintendent of Schools and the Principals of the High School and Junior High School, the Board gave an "unofficial direction" that the listed books be removed from the library shelves and delivered to the Board's offices so that Board members could read them. ^[n4] When this directive was carried out, it became publicized, and the Board issued a press release justifying its action. It characterized the removed books as "anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Sem[i]tic, and just plain filthy," and concluded that "[i]t is our duty, our moral obligation, to protect the children in our schools from this moral danger as surely as from physical and medical dangers." 474 F.Supp. 387, 390 (EDNY 1979).

John F. Kennedy liked to say that learning and leadership are indispensable to one another.¹ Unfortunately and until recently, the Air Force had failed institutionally to recognize and appreciate the significance of this relationship. In fact the Air Force had exhibited an enduring ambivalence toward learning and the education and training processes that comprise it. Officers were encouraged to obtain an advanced degree for promotion purposes, but the value of that degree to leadership development was not recognized. This was a remarkable circumstance, since the nature of the service and its mission require a depth of technical knowledge that can be gained only through continued education and training. Further, the rapid pace of technological change dictated that individuals periodically return to education for the essential updates necessary to comprehend the changed scope, pace, and complexity of operational conflicts and the post-Cold War geostrategic context in which they occur.