Moritz Legal Information Blog

Missouri Senate Bill 54, the Amy Hestir Student Protection Act, is set to take effect next week. The bill provides, among other things: By January 1, 2012, every school district must develop a written policy concerning teacher-student communication and employee-student communications. Each policy must include appropriate oral and nonverbal personal communication, which may be combined with sexual harassment policies, and appropriate use of electronic media as described in the act, including social networking sites. Teachers cannot establish, maintain, or use a work-related website unless it is available to school administrators and the child's legal custodian, physical custodian, or legal guardian. Teachers also cannot have a nonwork-related website that allows exclusive access with a current or former student. Former student is defined as any person who was at one time a student at the school at which the teacher is employed and who is eighteen years of age or less and who has

Vermont sports law professor Michael McCann provides initial analysis on SI.com of the class action concussion lawsuit filed last week against the National Football League. Plaintiffs include former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon. See court documents including the complaint (starting at p. 7) filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

An online archive called The Old Bailey provides access to reports and summaries of 197,745 criminal trials taking place at central London's Old Bailey criminal court between 1674 and 1913. The site descibes its contents as "the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published." See the recent story in the New York Times for more on this freely available resource.

This week, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study on medical malpractice risk. The abstract, tables, and article from the NEJM can be found here . The study measured the proportion of physicians who face a malpractice claim every year (according to specialty), the proportion of claims leading to a payment, and the size of payments. More news and commentary: Wall Street Journal Law Blog MSNBC ABA Journal

We recently reported on the health care symposium over at SCOTUSblog. SCOTUSblog's new symposium will focus on same-sex marriage. Pieces submitted so far: Marriage Equality State by State Marriage Equality: Religious Freedom, Federalism, and Judicial Activism

We wrote earlier this month that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's murder and corruption trial would be shown live on Egyptian state television. As JURIST is now reporting, the presiding judge recently ordered an end to this practice. See additional coverage from the Washington Post . See also coverage of Mubarak's Aug. 3 appearance including video from Al Jazeera .

Another TSA lawsuit: Student Aaron Tobey protested TSA procedures by stripping to his shorts at Richmond International Airport, revealing part of the text of the Fourth Amendment written on his chest. Tobey was detained, arrested, and charged with disorderly conduct (the charge was dropped). He is now suing the TSA and others for violation of his First and Fourth Amendment rights. Complaint More: Washington Post Richmond Times-Dispatch As well, the TSA is starting a pilot program at Logan International Airport in Boston, with Behavior Detection Officers questioning travelers and looking for suspicious behavior. More: Boston Herald MSNBC My Fox Boston