Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier

1
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier

• The Supreme Court Decision on School Censorship

2
Case Background

• The newspaper at Hazelwood School district was
  written by students for the students.
• Principal Robert Reynolds received a draft of the
  May 1983 issue and found two articles
  inappropriate.
• One article consisted of a girl in the schools
  hardships through her parents divorce.
• The other article was composed of stories of teen
  pregnancy in Hazelwood High.
• Cathy Kuhlmeier and two former students sued for
  their rights to freedom of press in 1988.

3
Hazelwood School District

• Public schools are responsible for the safety and
  protection of their students by banning the
  articles they are ensuring the students education
  is not disrupted.
• School authorities warrant control over the
  schools classes and what was taught in
  journalism.
• School newspapers are a limited public forum.
• Activities in the school are a representation on
  the administration. Articles addressing problems
  in the problems of the district harm the schools
  reputation.

4
Kuhlmeier

• There is no evidence that the articles would
  directly disrupt the learning environment.
• The articles although controversial were done in
  a tasteful manner and students names were hidden.
• Only non-content based articles could be purged
  from the paper by the administration.
• The school had waived responsibility for the
  paper prior to the controversial articles.

5
Supreme Court Decision

• The Supreme Court in 5-3 decision decided in
  favor of Hazelwood School District.
• They reasoned that the newspaper was under
  control of the school and held the schools name.
• The court stated that student speech was limited
  as long as the school had "reasonably related to
  legitimate pedagogical concerns."
• This ruling gave school districts the right to
  suppress the first amendment rights of students
  with just cause.