College Background Checks. Byron Ackerman uticaod.com reports that Herkimer County Community College officials are backing legislation that would allow peace officers to conduct background checks on students involved in a possible crime. The bill is also being supported by State University of New York. Recently, there have been assaults and stabbings on campus which has students concerned. HCCC President Ronald Williams believes the recent events could have been prevented if peace officers had the ability to conduct background checks. However, there are some concerns with violating a student’s privacy.

A First Amendment issue raised by a student against her school administrators is reported by the AP in today’s Washington Post. Avery Doninger claims that officials at Lewis S. Mills High School violated her free speech rights when they banned her from serving on the student council because of a blog journal entry written on her home computer. A federal lower court supported the school in Doninger’s punishment because the blog addressed school issues and other students could read it. The Supreme Court made a ruling that officials could bar vulgar and lewd speech if it undermined the school’s mission. However, the ruling was based on cases that involved events that happened at school or during a school activity.

Connecticut: Lawmakers want to ban locking up juveniles
Hartford Courant reporter Colin Poitras writes that U.S Rep. Chris Murphy is introducing the “Juvenile Justice Improvement Act” to Congress. If the act is passed, it would ban states from incarcerating juveniles who repeatedly run away and prevent juveniles that are charged with murder or rape from being locked up in adult jails . Instead, states would be required to put juveniles in programs that are known to work. Murphy says that since 1993, there has been an increase of 150 percent of teens that are incarcerated with adults. Also, Rep. Toni Walker, who supports juvenile justice reforms, said “Prosecuting youth in adult criminal courts increases the likelihood they will re-offend.”

Arizona allows guns on college campuses
According to this New York Times report by Randal Archibold, State Senator Karen Johnson sponsored a bill that passed with a 4 to 3 vote last week. The bill will allow people in colleges to carry a firearm if they have a concealed weapon permit. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, says, “15 other states are considering similar legislation for students and faculty to carry guns on campus.” Also, Jason Lewis, a student at University of Arizona, said, “It would at least let me protect myself and be a deterrent for criminals.”