School, says Justin Driver, is largely a Constitution-free zone. In The Schoolhouse Gate: Public Education, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for the American Mind, the University of Chicago law professor casts a critical eye on the Supreme Court’s decisions—and its inaction—on issues governing public schools. Driver argues that the court, with opinions giving educators the right to inflict corporal punishment, search children without probable cause, and suppress student speech solely for objectionable viewpoints, has abandoned its fundamental responsibility to safeguard students’ constitutional protections. What’s more, says Driver, lower courts—following the high court’s lead—have upheld an array of questionable school actions involving dress codes, off-campus speech, and zero-tolerance policies that suspend, expel, and criminalize children for minor infractions.

I recently spoke to Driver about what the newest Supreme Court justice could mean for constitutional freedoms in public schools and the multiple ways that the court has eroded students’ rights in recent decades. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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