Mahmoud v. Taylor (2025) broadened parents' rights regarding what their children learn in public schools

Pierce v. Society of Sisters limited state power over how parents educate their children

In striking down Oregon’s attempt to ban private schools, the Supreme Court held that forcing children into public education violated substantive due process, affirming that parents—not the state—have a fundamental right to direct their children’s upbringing and education.

Maryland required officeholders to declare a belief in God until 1961

In Torcaso v. Watkins (1961), the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a Maryland requirement that officeholders declare belief in God violated the First and 14th Amendments. The decision struck down religious tests for public office across all states.

The Supreme Court decided that a public school coach's postgame prayers were protected speech

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of a high school football coach who had been suspended for kneeling in prayer at midfield after games. The decision shifted away from the Lemon test and toward a more expansive view of religious freedom in the Establishment Clause.

Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores (2014) extended religious exemptions to family-owned corporations

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that family-owned companies could invoke the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to refuse contraception coverage required under the Affordable Care Act. It was the first time the court recognized that for-profit corporations could hold religious beliefs.

Snyder v. Phelps found that the First Amendment protects speech, even if it is deeply hurtful or inflammatory

When some members of the Westboro Baptist Church, carrying inflammatory signs, picketed the funeral of a fallen Marine, his father sued but lost. The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 that the protest addressed matters of public concern and was protected by the First Amendment.

Tinker v. Des Moines affirmed that students maintain the right to free speech at school

In 1969, the Supreme Court ruled that two Iowa teenagers had the right to wear black armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam War, establishing that students retain First Amendment protections in public schools.

Hear from both sides of the attempt to ban books across the country, which spiked by more than 1,100% between 2020 and 2022

During that period, more than 2,500 titles were challenged across 37 states, with activists targeting books on race, slavery, and gender identity. This CBS report hears from the founders of Moms for Liberty, a teacher removed for giving students access to banned books, and "Maus" cartoonist Art Spiegelman.

A part-time teacher in Maryland kickstarted Title IX

When applying for a fill-time position at the University of Maryland, Bernice Sandler was told she "came on too strong" for a woman, leading her to research legal protections against gender discrimination. She found a 1967 Executive Order prohibiting federally funded institutions from discrimination and used it as the basis for a class action lawsuit that would eventually lead to Title IX.

Some parents have objected to yoga in schools

Yoga has been introduced in some public schools as a form of exercise and emotional regulation. Some parents, however, have objected to its inclusion, arguing that it promotes the Hindu and Buddhist religions. Note that this resource will be paywalled for some readers.

Hear how the 2 religious clauses in the First Amendment have been tested and evolved over time

This podcast examines the evolution of the free exercise and establishment clauses, tracing their development from federal restrictions to state and local laws. Discover the believers who challenged the limits of religious freedom throughout American history.

School choice allows families to use public funds for private education

Some private school advocates support school choice, a broad policy that provides families with public money (sometimes called “vouchers”) to spend on private education, including religiously affiliated schools.

Madison argued that the government had no authority to regulate faith

James Madison viewed religion as a matter of individual conscience beyond the reach of the state, opposing government funding of churches and advancing a model of religious liberty based on noninterference rather than official toleration.

Massachusetts passed the first compulsory education law as early as 1642

The legislation required families to instruct children in religious and colonial law. By 1852, Massachusetts mandated that all children ages 8 to 14 attend school. By 1918, every state had a similar law.

In 1976, segregation was outlawed in private schools

Over two decades after Brown v. Board of Education, Runyon v. McCrary banned the segregation academies, forcing them to admit non-white students or shut down.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

Why pregnant teachers were banned from classrooms

Until the 1970s, many schools required pregnant teachers to leave the classroom by mid-term. In 1974, the Supreme Court ruled these policies unconstitutional, establishing that women could choose to keep working while pregnant.

A Tennessee teacher was put on trial in 1925 for teaching evolution in a public school

John Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, but the conviction was later overturned on a technicality. Tennessee's anti-evolution law stayed on the books until 1967, when it was finally repealed.

Explore 2024 polling on curriculum debates relating to social issues

A 2023 nationwide Pew survey found that 56% of K–12 teachers report discussing race or racial inequality in class, while only 29% mention LGBTQ topics. Many teachers (41%) say these debates have negatively impacted their work.

Parents criticized 'Dungeons & Dragons' during the 'Satanic Panic'

The role-playing game became popular enough to attract the ire of special interest groups, like Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons (or BADD) during the so-called "Satanic Panic" of the 1980s and 1990s, when parents believed the game was corrupting children.

Public transit has been a front line of civil rights battles for over a century

Public transit was among the most contested terrain in the fight for racial equality in America, because it was where Black Americans and white Americans were unavoidably forced to share public space.

In 2020, Loyola University Maryland removed O’Connor’s name from a dormitory

The decision was made after a student petition, citing private letters using racial epithets. Hundreds of writers and academics wrote an open letter criticizing the move, including novelist Alice Walker, who said, “We must honor Flannery for growing. Hide nothing of what she was, and use that to teach.”

How a Cleveland woman who slammed the door on police changed the Fourth Amendment

In 1957, a bomb exploded under the front porch of boxing promoter Don King in Cleveland. When police received a tip to search Dollree Mapp's home, she refused to let them in. Her case went to the Supreme Court, resulting in a ruling that barred illegally obtained evidence from state criminal trials.

An 1898 Supreme Court case confirmed birthright citizenship for children of immigrants

In 1898, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment guaranteed US citizenship to Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants—establishing a lasting precedent for birthright citizenship regardless of parental status.

Researchers found that reading 'Harry Potter' made children more tolerant

Psychological research showed that children and young adults who read Harry Potter developed greater empathy and more accepting attitudes toward marginalized groups.

Taylor Swift became more outspoken about her politics in the late 2010s

Vocally supporting LGBTQ+ rights, speaking out against racial inequality, and endorsing presidential candidates are more recent features of Taylor Swift's career. She first broke her political silence around the 2018 midterm elections.

A 13-year-old was declared brain-dead yet went through puberty on a ventilator

This podcast details Jahi McMath's highly controversial case. She was declared brain-dead in 2013 following surgical complications, but her family, citing religious beliefs, kept her connected to a ventilator for the five years that followed. She continued to grow and went through puberty before being issued a second death certificate in New Jersey.

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, and became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

Poison ivy can cause rashes year-round since all parts of the plant contain urushiol, the oil that triggers our allergic response.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution