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Browsing by Author "Nowak, Benjamin Adam"

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    Students' First and Fourth Amendment Rights in the Digital Age: An Analysis of Case Law
    Nowak, Benjamin Adam (Virginia Tech, 2014-04-27)
    In January, 2012, the Supreme Court of the United States refused to hear three cases involving student online speech, or cyberspeech. This indicates that the Court is content with lower courts applying First Amendment jurisprudence developed over 40 years ago to a rapidly advancing digital environment where students carry the equivalent of personal computers in their pockets, have an ever-growing telepresence, and rely on cyberspeech as their primary means of communicating with the world around them. Lower courts also are beginning to grapple with challenges to students Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure as it relates to the digital environment described above. Recently, lower courts in Mississippi, Texas, Minnesota, and Kentucky have applied standards set forth decades ago to decide cases involving searches of students mobile devices and Web 2.0 applications. Given the absence of guidance from the Supreme Court, this study aims to: (1) identify and analyze trends in the current application of legal standards related to student cyberspeech and search and seizure in the digital age; (2) synthesize these findings into a set of essential guidelines for school officials to use as they navigate a legal landscape that has yet to be well defined; and (3) make recommendations to further develop the body of law. Findings indicate that school officials have the legal authority to restrict off-campus student cyberspeech when certain conditions are met, and Tinker governs cases in this area. Seriously threatening, slanderous, or obscene cyberspeech is not constitutionally protected and can be restricted prior to an actual disruption. Off-campus student cyberspeech that reaches the school can legally be restricted so long as evidence shows that it caused a material and substantial disruption. In addition, students possess reasonable expectations of privacy in their personal mobile devices and password-protected private Web 2.0 communications. T.L.O governs searches of students personal mobile devices and Vernonia appears to govern cases involving searches of students Web 2.0 applications. Substantive suspicion at the outset, carefully tailored searches, and a clear governmental interest will keep school officials from violating students Fourth Amendment protections.
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    Virginia Athletic Directors and School Law
    Patrick, James Michael (Virginia Tech, 2017-01-17)
    A review of the literature indicates that there has been no previous studies on Virginia Athletic Directors (ADs) and their knowledge of school law. Several researchers have studied other educators' knowledge of school law. In general, previous studies on educators' knowledge of school law demonstrates that educators do not have a comprehensive working knowledge of school law. ADs differ from those studied previously due to the lack of unified certification requirements for ADs in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This study was designed to measure Virginia interscholastic ADs' knowledge of job related school law. In addition, the study analyzed the data for any significant relationships between ADs' knowledge of school law and other variables. Such variables include age, experience, size of school district, level of education, administration and supervision endorsement, type of legal training, methods for obtaining current school law information and/or updates, membership in professional organizations, national certification level. Of the 315 Virginia public high school Ads, 305 were surveyed and 140 responded, for a response rate of 45.9%. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, and ANOVA analysis. Statistical analysis revealed that ADs in larger schools scored significantly higher than ADs in smaller schools. Also, ADs with that possessed the 'Certified Athletic Administrator' (CAA) credential scored significantly higher than ADs that have not attained the CAA certification. Lastly, ADs that are members of both the state and national ADs association (VIAAA and NIAAA, respectively) scored significantly higher than ADs who are not members of both associations.