EdLawConnect Blog

On April 18, 2018, six leading public health and medical organizations insisted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take immediate action to address the rise in teenage usage of Juul electronic cigarettes. (See our April 10, 2018 blog entry about Juul devices here.) The groups cited recent research conducted by the Truth Initiative and published in the journal Tobacco Control, which revealed that 63 percent of current Juul users aged 15-24 did not know the product contains nicotine. Additionally, the research indicated that 25 percent of users may not even realize the product is an e-cigarette or tobacco product.

Often, the concept of requiring a student to testify before an administrative hearing panel is daunting.  Our students live in a difficult world of rumors, public humiliation broadcast on social media, and threatening messages sent by text and over the Internet.  It is no wonder that most students readily indicate they are afraid of testifying against a student accused of misconduct, and our site and District administrators are reluctant to put a student through the process.

Given the plummeting cost of digital storage, many educational agencies scan permanent records into electronic format and destroy the hard copy originals. The Education Code and Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations permit educational agencies to destroy paper records in certain circumstances — after their usefulness ceases, after they have been classified as “disposable,” or after they have been copied into an electronic storage medium. But even when the destruction is permitted by law, it may have negative repercussions if the agency knew or should have known the documents would be relevant to current or potential litigation.

Use of the best-selling e-cigarette on the market is spreading quickly throughout middle and high schools. The nicotine vaporizer, called Juul, looks like a flash drive; it can even be charged in a USB port. By the end of 2017, Juul sales made up a third of the e-cigarette market.

Across the country, students, parents, and community members rely on websites as a primary source for information about their children’s education, meal planning, and community events. The websites may be operated by a school, a district, a county office of education, or a state-level educational agency. A recent study entitled Tracking: EDU: Education Agency Website Security and Privacy Practices, produced by consulting firm EdTech Strategies, LLC, highlights significant privacy, online surveillance, and other security issues with the websites of many school districts and state departments of education.

In mid-October 2017, Hollywood movie executive Harvey Weinstein tumbled from grace when he was accused of sexual harassment from multiple actresses who had worked with him over the decades.  After the first complaint came in, more and more women began to come forward with their own allegations against Weinstein.  From there, out of the Weinstein complaints grew a new movement of women and men speaking out against other celebrities, politicians, and media personalities alleging sexual misconduct.  Social media responded with a “#metoo” movement where victims of sexual harassment and misconduct took to the internet to give light to a topic previously tucked away in the dark.

School districts are no longer authorized to grant permission to persons to carry firearms in school zones and on school campuses, closing a longstanding loophole under the California Gun-Free School Zone Act of 1995 (Penal Code § 626.9). Now, with certain limited exceptions, no one is permitted to possess a firearm in a school zone or on a school campus

The New Law (SB 395)

Effective January 1, 2018, a California minor age 15 or under must consult with an attorney before he/she can give a confession to a law enforcement officer in a custodial setting which would be legally admissible in a court of law. (SB 395, Welfare and Institutions Code § 625.6.)  The consultation with the attorney can occur by phone or video conference.  Neither the minor nor the minor’s s ...

In June 2015, we reported here that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission launched a pilot program called ACT Digital to digitally transmit employment discrimination charges and related documents. The program was initially piloted in 11 EEOC offices, including San Francisco. In March 2017, EEOC announced its Online Inquiry and Appointment System, which was available as a pilot in five cities ...

California has taken an important step in protecting students from being subjected to sexual misconduct by teachers. Recently, the California legislature enacted AB 872, which makes all sex offenses that require registration as a sex offender now also result in the immediate suspension of a teacher’s credential. The bill amends Education Code Section 44010 to add Penal Code Section 288.2, which relates ...