Law and Daily Life

Public school students don't lose their constitutional rights when they walk onto school property. This includes your expectation of privacy and the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment. So, what does this mean when it comes to your Fourth Amendment rights as a student? And when is it okay or not okay for school administrators to search you? Here's what you should know.

Assisted suicide is mostly illegal in the U.S., but momentum for greater legalization appears to be growing. So, however, are concerns. Euthanasia, the act of deliberately ending a person's life to relieve suffering, is illegal in every state under general homicide laws. However, assisted suicide, suicides committed with the assistance of a physician, is legal in 10 states with several legislatures currently considering legalization.

Public school students generally have the same First Amendment rights to freedom of speech as everyone else when they're at school and during school activities. But the U.S. Supreme Court has carved out some exceptions when it comes to protecting student speech because of the need to provide a safe and orderly school environment. So when it comes to your First Amendment free speech rights, what can you say without getting in trouble at school?

On Nov. 20, 2022, a computer program called ChatGPT made its debut and rapidly attracted reviews proclaiming it a game changer for artificial intelligence (AI). ChatGPT is a "chatbot," which is a program that simulates human conversation by applying artificial intelligence to text or voice commands. ChatGPT, built by the San Francisco research lab Open AI, has no such limitations. Its reach seems boundless. It can produce solid, well-researched articles. It can write short stories. Even poetry. But can it create content that may also get you into legal trouble?

There are two viewpoints on what quiet quitting really means. One view is that it means not going above and beyond your job duties, like not volunteering to work nights or weekends could be quiet quitting. The other view is that it means doing the bare minimum or just enough to keep your job. But can employers fire employees for quiet quitting?

Even when you suspect it may be coming, losing your job can pack a traumatic punch. Tens of thousands of workers in the high-tech industry have had that experience in the last few months, and economists warn that a recession could be coming. So, maybe it's a good idea now to think about what you should do if it happens to you.