The Marjorie Webster Decisions on Accreditation

What does the Marjorie Webster case portend for the future of accreditation in higher education? Will the courts now “remain aloof from the accrediting process” or will they increase their scrutiny of the “standards by which higher education is governed?” The author explores questions raised by the extensive litigation and public debate produced by this tradition-breaking lawsuit

Judicial Review of Accreditation: The Parsons College Case

Since courts have seldom become involved in the process of educational accreditation that operates in the United States, the private regional and professional accrediting agencies that evaluate our educational institutions have generally functioned without judicial (or for that matter, legislative) interference. This freedom from any form of governmental control has been of singular importance in shaping the development of a private accreditation system unique to this country. Any court case challenging some aspect of this system could, therefore, be of enormous significance to education and the future of accreditation in the United States. Such a case is Parsons College v. North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, decided on July 26, 1967, by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Accrediting Agencies’ Legal Responsibilities: In Pursuit of the Public Interest

This article considers the evolution in the way courts have labeled or categorized accrediting agencies, and the legal and policy consequences of this evolution. Discussion will then focus on the public interest standard that is the core of these developments and on ways in which accrediting agencies can fulfill their legal responsibilities under this standard

Typology and Critique of Title IX Sexual Harassment Law After Gebser and Davis

Sexual harassment is not a new phenomenon. It has long been with us in harassment problem in colleges and universities, focusing particularly on the harassment of students by their teachers or by their peers. Special attention will be given to whether and how students may hold colleges and universities liable in court for money damages for a failure to protect them from harassment. Then, using such private causes of action by students as the centerpiece, this article will develop a typology of Title IX sexual harassment claims and of the variable contexts in which they may arise. Following the typology, the article will consider the implications for colleges and universities and offer some recommendations for managing them

‘Hate Speech’ on the College Campus: Freedom of Speech and Equality at the Crossroads

This article focuses on the First Amendment implications of the hate speech problem, comparing the free speech values that may be endangered by attempts to regulate hate speech with the equality values that may be endangered if hate speech is left unchecked. I will also concentrate on processes that universities may devise to resolve these crucial value questions. My goal is to add order and balance to the differing points of view concerning hate speech, and to bring a measure of practicality and concreteness to what has often been a rather theoretical and abstract debate. In short, my focus will be on this specific question: What may, and what should, university communities do about the hate speech problem, and how should they go about doing it

Professional Power and Judicial Review: The Health Professions

The recent wave of public concern about health care has precipitated a trend toward public scrutiny of professional standards. This trend has created a tension in the system which is prompting a redefinition of the role of professionalism within the health care system, as well as a rethinking of governmental and public roles in the system\u27s operation. Courts and legislatures, the ultimate propounders of public policy, can play a crucial role in this redefinition and rethinking. As policy makers and interest groups have sought firmer handholds on the professionally dominated standard-setting processes, the demands on courts and legislatures to scrutinize the system have escalated. Responding to these demands, courts and legislatures are beginning to reshape -the relationship of the law to the health care system. This article examines the reshaping process and suggests directions for future development in one crucial area of concern: the role of the judiciary in reviewing exercises of power by health professional associations, particularly with respect to their standard-setting functions

The Process of Constitutional Interpretation: A Synthesis of the Present and a Guide to the Future

This Article provides a counterbalance to current trends in the constitutional interpretation debate. First, the Article is addressed not only to academic experts but also to practicing lawyers, law students, government officials, and academics that are interested but not expert in the process of constitutional interpretation. Second, the Article emphasizes the common ground or agreement about interpretation as much as the disagreements, and offers a synthesis of the interpretive process that charts the common ground and models the best of current understanding. Third, the Article relates theory to practice by exploring the ramifications of this synthesis for courts, other interpreters, and those making or critiquing constitutional arguments in practice. Fourth, the Article suggests specific steps that we might take, building on the synthesis, to further our understanding of and improve the functioning of the process of constitutional interpretation. To accomplish these goals, the Article proceeds largely by constructing a descriptive theory that provides an account of the interpretive process as it actually exists in practice and an account of the disagreements that have developed concerning this process. In addition, the Article includes some normative theory prescribing how the interpretive process should function in areas where there is considerable doubt and disagreement about its workings, or where the apparent practice, in the author\u27s view, is misguided or underdeveloped. In these areas, the Article seeks to select, from among the plausible descriptive theories, the one that guides future conduct in the most normatively attractive way