US Constitution

This Right is found in the First amendment and is generally called the right to freedom of expression or the right to free speech though in reality it covers freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and the right to petition the government.

A dissenting opinion is written when a justice disagrees with the majority opinion (which carries the force of law). If a justice is writing a dissenting opinion, that means he or she voted with the minority group, and wants to explain the reason why he or she disagrees with the official Opinion of the Court.

Dissenting opinions may be cited, but are not enforceable.

Most regulations adopted by boards of education would not be subjected to any kind of constitutional review; the US constitution allows lower levels of government to function in most situations with no federal supervision. However, any regulation mightin some way infringe upon a constitutional guarantee. The issue of freedom of religion would be the most likely to come up. If a school board requires all its students to pray to Jesus every day, that would seem to violate the principle of freedom of religion, since not every student is a Christian and not every student would therefore find such prayer to be consistent with their own religious beliefs and practices. But if a school board requires students to show up at 9:00, or to wear ties, or not to bring knives to school, and so forth, there is no reason why that would become a constitutional issue.

"Other cases cited by the Court do not, as implied, follow the McReynolds reasonableness doctrine. West Virginia v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, clearly rejecting the 'reasonableness' test, held that the Fourteenth Amendment made the First applicable to the States."

The First and Fourteenth Amendments.