Rhode Island Defeats Suit Over Alleged Lapse in Civics Education

Rhode Island won a lawsuit alleging its failure to provide an adequate civics education violates students’ constitutional due process rights because the right to a particular education isn’t fundamental, the First Circuit said.

The right to an education itself is fundamental, but the right to a specific civics education that prepares people to effectively participate in the democratic process is not, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit said.

The students called attention to a critical issue, but the “weight of precedent” stands in their way, the court said.

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided only that the ...