The Courts and Peace Activism: Selected Legal Cases Related to Matters of Conscience and Civil Liberties

Howlett, Charles F.

doi:10.1111/pech.12001

Cited by 3 publications

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“…Contrary to the lower court's ruling, his opinions were found not rising to the level of "conduct unbecoming a teacher;" not once had his teaching competence or moral integrity been called into question, essential aspects of licensure that were disregarded when it came to all those accused of disloyalty. 24 Flora Foreman of Oregon joined Kammann's ranks of accused disloyalty but was less successful. Although most teachers charged with "conduct unbecoming" or "insubordination," as related to loyalty requirements, was prosecuted under state laws, Foreman was convicted of violating the Espionage Act for allegedly coaxing one of her female students to break up with her boyfriend to retaliate for his enlisting in the military, among other questionable charges.…”

Section: Tribulations and Trials In Other Parts Of The Countrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“Undemocratic, Barbaric, and Scholastically Wholly Unwise:” Conscientious Educators Under Fire from the Great War through the Present

Howlett¹,

Howlett²

2019

Peace & Change

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On matters of teacher loyalty and conscience, World War I marked a legal watershed in the United States. During this conflict, schools became seminaries of patriotism and teachers had to promote loyalty and allegiance to the government. Throughout the nation, overzealous school boards imposed state‐legislated loyalty oaths upon teachers. In cities and rural communities, many teachers were accused of disloyalty, regardless of personal beliefs, and stripped of their positions. Teachers who criticized the war faced intense scrutiny and often were dismissed on the flimsiest of charges. Some teachers chose to litigate the matter in courts of law. Some were successful, and some were not. This pattern has continued during subsequent wars. In terms of free speech protections for public schoolteachers, the law has been applied inconsistently. Whereas college and university teachers have had some degree of constitutionally protected free speech because of the ideal of academic freedom, the same does not apply to public schoolteachers. This article traces a number school trials as well as court cases from World War I to the present. It examines how the judiciary has adjudicated acts of conscience during wartime in the nation's public schools. It remains an unsettled issue in need of constitutional redress.

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Section: Tribulations and Trials In Other Parts Of The Countrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“Undemocratic, Barbaric, and Scholastically Wholly Unwise:” Conscientious Educators Under Fire from the Great War through the Present

Howlett¹,

Howlett²

2019

Peace & Change

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“…41 State laws placing restrictions on public school teachers' freedom of thought, moreover, resides in the very concept of a "captive audience." 42 Ironically, it was World War I that would spur legislative enactments of teacher loyalty oaths: a reality Dewey was unable to prevent.…”

Section: T H E D E W E Y a N P E R S P E C T I V E O F P E A C E T H mentioning

confidence: 99%

John Dewey and the Significance of Peace Education in American Democracy

Howlett

Cohan

2017

J. gilded age prog. era

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As 2016 is the centennial of Dewey's most famous work, Democracy and Education (1916), it is imperative to consider Dewey's role as a public intellectual. In reflection of how he framed his most famous work—as an instrument for helping people think about democratic reform—the authors examined John Dewey's beliefs about the importance of peace as applied to the American view. This essay journals Dewey as an important contributor to the American peace movement in terms of both thought and activity, especially in the post-World War I period. Dewey argued that the responsibility of schools in a democratic society is to teach cooperation and understanding and not simply rely on notions of patriotism and allegiance as often presented in schools. His World War I experience alerted him to the need for transforming schools as seminaries of patriotism into instruments for global understanding. The authors also offered specific examples as to how his instrumentalist philosophy, including his involvement in the Outlawry of War campaign in the 1920s, has been a cornerstone of peace education efforts in the United States over the past one hundred years and what has been their effectiveness.

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“The War Power Is Not a Blank Check”: The Supreme Court and Conscientious Objection, 1917–1973

Threlkeld

2019

J. Policy Hist.

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Abstract:This article examines the Supreme Court’s role in the development of federal conscientious objector policy in the twentieth century. Focusing on two key periods—the three years following the end of World War II, and the era of the Vietnam War—I argue that the policy’s evolution was more complex than previous studies have indicated, and that the Court’s changing attitudes toward conscientious objection can be traced to the justices’ increasing but irresolute concern for civil liberties. By the early 1970s, the Court was interpreting federal statutes much more broadly than Congress ever intended, but the justices remained divided over just how broad those interpretations should be. While the end of the draft rendered the question of compulsory military service moot, the Court’s failure to arrive at a clear position on conscientious objection has had lasting implications on other issues.

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The Courts and Peace Activism: Selected Legal Cases Related to Matters of Conscience and Civil Liberties

Cited by 3 publications

References 1 publication

“Undemocratic, Barbaric, and Scholastically Wholly Unwise:” Conscientious Educators Under Fire from the Great War through the Present

“Undemocratic, Barbaric, and Scholastically Wholly Unwise:” Conscientious Educators Under Fire from the Great War through the Present

John Dewey and the Significance of Peace Education in American Democracy

“The War Power Is Not a Blank Check”: The Supreme Court and Conscientious Objection, 1917–1973

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