tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post115325376584978721..comments2024-01-28T00:20:40.933-08:00Comments on Agoraphilia: Judging Education PolicyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-1153352091456251132006-07-19T16:34:00.000-07:002006-07-19T16:34:00.000-07:00Peter, I don't know. But I've never heard of a da...Peter, I don't know. But I've never heard of a damages remedy being used to treat other constitutional violations. For instance, I've never heard of the Supreme Court awarding damages for violations of the 1st Amendment's establishment clause. Instead, they opt for injunctive relief by striking down the law in question and/or commanding government agencies to change their behavior/policy. Maybe someone more familiar with constitutional law can explain why (or give examples of where damages have been ordered for constitutional violations).<BR/><BR/>(I'm using the federal constitution as an example here, but I'd think the practice is similar with state constitutions.)<BR/><BR/>In any case, I wonder if ordering the state to pay damages to children deprived of a quality education might be tantamount to creating a voucher program! Of course, the damages money could be used to buy anything, whereas a voucher could only be used for educational purposes.Glen Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01425907466575991113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-1153346858214573532006-07-19T15:07:00.000-07:002006-07-19T15:07:00.000-07:00Why are those the court's only two options? Why c...Why are those the court's only two options? Why can't it just award damages to plaintiffs?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-1153343654607436562006-07-19T14:14:00.000-07:002006-07-19T14:14:00.000-07:00I'm not trained as a lawyer, but the language of t...I'm not trained as a lawyer, but the language of the New Jersey constitution sounds like it imposes a positive duty: "The Legislature <EM>shall provide</EM> for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of free public schools for the instruction of all the children in the State between the ages of five and eighteen years." (Emphasis added.) And the Texas constitution, as noted in the text, specifically uses the word "duty." But I'll concede there might be some relevant principles of legal interpretation that I don't know about.Glen Whitmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01425907466575991113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3829599.post-1153342820578795192006-07-19T14:00:00.000-07:002006-07-19T14:00:00.000-07:00Glen,I can't speak for NJ, but David Mayer (Capita...Glen,<BR/><BR/>I can't speak for NJ, but David Mayer (Capital University) has done some research on the history of Ohio's "thorough and efficient" clause and he believes it was written as a powers clause, not a rights clause. He says that it is equivalent to the "providing for the common defence" clause from the U.S. Constitution and thus it confers no obligation on the state to do anything with respect to education. (Note: at least one of the dissenting justices in Ohio's DeRolph school finance case agreed with Mayer on this, but clearly not everyone did).<BR/><BR/><BR/>See the following policy report for more (warning: pdf): http://tinyurl.com/nsn2pAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com