Docket Number: 97-843
Appealed From: U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
Subjects: Sexual harassment in schools; Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 20 U.S.C. 1682 et seq.

At Issue: Whether a federal law that bars sex discrimination in schools receiving federal funds makes a school liable for sexual harassment of one student by another.

Decision: The court ruled that public schools can be sued and forced to pay damages for failing to stop sexual harassment by students. Justice O'Connor wrote that schools must be aware that the harassment is occurring and be "deliberately indifferent" to it in order to be held responsible.

• The full text of the Davis v. Monroe County School Board decision is available at the FindLaw Internet Legal Resources Web site.

• The full text of the 1997 decision in the 11th Circuit case, Davis v. Monroe County School Board, also is available at FindLaw.

• Take a look at the specifics of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 on the Department of Labor's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management (OASAM) Web site.

• Look at the pertinent provision regarding discrimination in the U.S. Code (20 U.S.C. 1682, et. seq.,) at the Web site for the U.S. House of Representatives' Office of the Law Revision Counsel.

Sources: The Washington Post, Supreme Court, The United States Law Week (a Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. publication)