Press Releases

SCOTUS Declines Boyertown Case, Misses Opportunity to Protect Bodily Privacy for All Students

(HARRISBURG - May 28, 2019) The Independence Law Center today expressed disappointment with today’s announcement by the US Supreme Court rejecting its appeal in the personal privacy case involving students in the Boyertown Area School District. The case, Joel Doe et al. v. Boyertown Area School District, challenged the district’s unwritten policy that permits the entry into school locker rooms…

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Lawsuit filed over unconstitutional school policy prohibiting students from offering Bibles to fellow students.

Mechanicsburg Area School District policies violate student speech rights, give principal unbridled discretion, and discriminate against religious speech. (MECHANICSBURG, PA - January 31, 2019) Student leaders of a Bible club have filed a lawsuit against Mechanicsburg Area School District (MASD) over unconstitutional policies that violate students’ rights and for their discriminatory practices…

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Student Privacy Lawsuit Filed with Supreme Court

High school students ask nation's highest court to intervene and protect their fundamental right to privacy (November 19, 2018) Today the Harrisburg-based Independence Law Center and the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a petition for review before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of six students in the Boyertown Area School District in Boyertown, Pa. Unbeknownst to students or parents, the school…

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Privacy Matters: Six students appeal decision that violates bodily privacy

Independence Law Center and allied attorneys request full 3rd Circuit to take their case challenging PA school district’s unwritten policy PHILADELPHIA – Six students from the Boyertown Area School District and their families filed an appeal Monday asking the full U.S. Court of Appeals to take up their case after a three-judge panel ruled against the protection of their privacy. “No student…

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Response to 3rd Circuit Ruling Against Student Privacy

On Thursday, May 24, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit ruled against student privacy in Doe v. Boyertown Area School District. Six courageous students from the Boyertown Area School District have been forced to defend their right to personal privacy against the school district's unwritten policy which mandates that a girl's right to privacy from members of the opposite sex be dependent…

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BREAKING: More students fight for privacy rights, join lawsuit against PA school district

School continues unwritten policy, told students to 'tolerate' undressing with members of the opposite sex PHILADELPHIA – Additional students have joined a federal lawsuit against the Boyertown Area School District (BASD) for intentionally violating their fundamental right to bodily privacy. Without any notice to students or parents, BASD opened its schools’ sex-specific restrooms and locker…

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