Alabama Education

Even as the Supreme Court is deciding what to do about Arizona's tough law on illegal immigration, the Justice Department has warned Alabama that its law could have “continuing and lasting” consequences for Latino children. In a letter to Alabama education officials released this week, the Justice Department warns of the harmful effect of Alabama's law, known as HB 56. The letter also noted that the Justice Department is charged with enforcing laws that bar “discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin” and helping those for whom English is not a native language.

Even as the Supreme Court is deciding what to do about Arizona's tough law on illegal immigration, the Justice Department has warned Alabama that its law could have “continuing and lasting” consequences for Latino children. In a letter to Alabama education officials released this week, the Justice Department warns of the harmful effect of Alabama's law, known as HB 56. The letter also noted that the Justice Department is charged with enforcing laws that bar “discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin” and helping those for whom English is not a native language.

People for the American Way said that despite major legal victories against fundamentalist textbook critics in Tennessee and Alabama, it is still losing the censorship war as conservatives intensify attacks on public school libraries and curricula. The liberal anti-censorship lobbying group said it counted 153 censorship incidents in the 1986-87 school year, 18% more than the 130 it counted a year ago.

Fundamentalist Christians attempting to ban from Alabama public schools 44 textbooks they say promote a godless religion asked a Supreme Court justice Wednesday to assure their case will not die before reaching the nation's highest court. The emergency request asked Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to keep the case alive until the full Supreme Court considers a formal appeal in the controversy.

In a decision expected to have nationwide impact, a federal judge Wednesday banned the use of several dozen textbooks in Alabama's public schools, holding that they unconstitutionally promoted "the religion of secular humanism." U.S. District Judge W. Brevard Hand, ruling in a case that pitted the religious right against national civil libertarian lobbies, said the challenged textbooks violate First Amendment provisions mandating the separation of church and state.

Fundamentalist Christians attempting to ban from Alabama public schools 44 textbooks they say promote a godless religion asked a Supreme Court justice Wednesday to assure their case will not die before reaching the nation's highest court. The emergency request asked Justice Sandra Day O'Connor to keep the case alive until the full Supreme Court considers a formal appeal in the controversy.

When Judge W. Brevard Hand was about to rule on a controversial Alabama school textbook case recently, the question was not which way his decision would go--but how far. To the surprise of no one familiar with the case, Hand went the distance: He upheld the fundamentalist Christian plaintiffs, declared that "secular humanism" is a religion and banned more than 40 state-approved books that he ruled promoted the godless doctrine. The 63-year-old U.S.

HealthSouth Corp. founder Richard Scrushy, who was acquitted in June of a $2.7-billion fraud, surrendered to federal marshals on charges of bribing former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman. Scrushy, who denies the accusations, arrived at the federal courthouse in Montgomery, Ala., then went to the marshal's office. Siegelman, a Democrat, also gave himself up to federal authorities in Montgomery. Two other former state officials also were charged in the case.

People for the American Way said that despite major legal victories against fundamentalist textbook critics in Tennessee and Alabama, it is still losing the censorship war as conservatives intensify attacks on public school libraries and curricula. The liberal anti-censorship lobbying group said it counted 153 censorship incidents in the 1986-87 school year, 18% more than the 130 it counted a year ago.

When Judge W. Brevard Hand was about to rule on a controversial Alabama school textbook case recently, the question was not which way his decision would go--but how far. To the surprise of no one familiar with the case, Hand went the distance: He upheld the fundamentalist Christian plaintiffs, declared that "secular humanism" is a religion and banned more than 40 state-approved books that he ruled promoted the godless doctrine. The 63-year-old U.S.

In a decision expected to have nationwide impact, a federal judge Wednesday banned the use of several dozen textbooks in Alabama's public schools, holding that they unconstitutionally promoted "the religion of secular humanism." U.S. District Judge W. Brevard Hand, ruling in a case that pitted the religious right against national civil libertarian lobbies, said the challenged textbooks violate First Amendment provisions mandating the separation of church and state.